Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the National Health Data Service to collect data on pancreatic cancer.

The Government is setting up the Health Data Research Service (HDRS) to help improve healthcare for everyone in the United Kingdom. The National Health Service has collected health information from millions of people over 75 years old and has a unique set of data which could hold the secret to curing and better treating major illnesses.

HDRS will safely and responsibly capitalise on the UK's rich health and care datasets to unlock breakthroughs in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, including cancers. With streamlined access to this data, researchers will be able to carry out research that will prevent illness and benefit patients sooner, with improved and tailored treatments.

HDRS will be open to a diverse range of customers with a legal and ethical research project and will be designed to support the broadest spectrum of research topics, including rare diseases.