Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she would consider the potential merits of appointing clinical research nurses to work only on brain cancer clinical trials.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that National Health Service organisations have the appropriate workforce to support the delivery of clinical trials, including trials of brain cancer treatments.

Decisions about the composition and deployment of clinical research teams are for individual host organisations, based on their research portfolio, clinical priorities, patient population, and workforce requirements. This may include the appointment of research nurses with specialist expertise in particular disease areas where this is appropriate.

The Government does not currently mandate a particular staffing model but provides support with funding through the National Institute of Health and Care Research to develop the capacity and capability to deliver research, expecting host organisations to ensure that they have the appropriate resources and expertise to deliver the clinical research undertaken at their sites.