Millions of people will now be able to search for and sign up for clinical trials in the NHS app. The ‘Be Part of Research‘ service on the app allows patients to browse and find the trials best suited to their interests and needs.
The new service is expected to speed up clinical trials and make the UK a hotbed of innovation. Eventually, the plan will see the NHS App automatically match patients with studies based on their health data and interests, sending push notifications to their phone about relevant new trials to sign up for.
It comes as the NIHR launches a UK-wide recruitment drive for clinical trials – the biggest ever health research campaign – to get as many people involved in research as possible. Adults across the UK are being urged to register, with underrepresented groups including young people, Black people and people of South Asian heritage particularly encouraged to sign up at bepartofresearch.uk.
Public reporting will show the number of trials sponsored by both commercial and non-commercial sponsors at specific Trusts and other organisations, including universities or Primary Care sites. It will reveal to the government, patients, investors, and Trust boards which NHS organisations are performing well and which are falling behind. Government investment will only be prioritised for the Trusts that can prove they can support the NHS to deliver the treatments of tomorrow.
“The UK has been at the forefront of scientific and medical discovery throughout our history. Some country will lead the charge in the emerging revolution in life sciences, and why shouldn’t it be Britain?” said Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting.
“The 10-year health plan will marry the genius of our country’s leading scientific minds, with the care and compassion of our health service, to put NHS patients at the front of the queue for new cutting-edge treatments,” he said.
Streeting said the long-term goal is for the app to become the ‘digital front door to the NHS’, and enable all citizens to play their part in developing the medicines of the future.
“The British people showed they were willing to be part of finding the vaccine for Covid, so why not do it again to cure cancer and dementia? By slashing through red tape and making it easier for patients to take part, reforms in our ten-year plan will grow our life sciences sector, generate new funds for the NHS to reinvest in frontline care, and benefit patients through better medicines,” he said.
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