Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the (1) approval, and (2) set-up processes, for dementia trials.

The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2021 to 2022 Implementation Plan sets out our commitments to improve study approval and set-up processes. This states that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the UK Research Ethics Services plan to implement a combined review of clinical trials to improve study approval. It aims to deliver a streamlined and efficient approval process through a single application route and a coordinated review. We also plan to introduce a National Contract Value Review to accelerate commercial research studies in the National Health Service. While the Implementation Plan is not specific to any disease area, it aims to benefit the research system, including trials for dementia. A copy of the Implementation Plan is attached.

We are reviewing ways to increase research for dementia and we will set out these ambitions in the forthcoming dementia strategy, which will be published later this year.