Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with (a) NHS England and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Research on (i) expanding the number of recruiting sites for and (ii) including James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough in the MND-SMART trial.

Decisions on site selection for clinical trials rest with the study sponsor, shaped by the design and requirements of the trial.

No discussions about the MND-SMART trial have been held with the Department. However, while we are not directly involved in these decisions, the Department works through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to ensure a fair and transparent process for site identification.

The NIHR’s United Kingdom-wide site identification service enables National Health Service organisations, including the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, to express interest and suitability to host research. This provides an inclusive and transparent process that ensures opportunities are shared equitably across the country, with decisions guided by the real-time capacity and capability of sites.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with motor neurone disease, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.