My Lords, the Minister quite rightly alluded to the clinical entrepreneur programmes, and she might want to say a bit more about how successful they have been. Does she agree that, for these programmes to succeed in making clinical departments more innovative, we need strong academic departments working together with universities and teaching hospitals?

My Lords, the Minister quite rightly alluded to the clinical entrepreneur programmes, and she might want to say a bit more about how successful they have been. Does she agree that, for these programmes to succeed in making clinical departments more innovative, we need strong academic departments working together with universities and teaching hospitals?

My Lords, the development of Evo 2—which is an AI biological model with 9.3 trillion nucleotides extending over 128,000 different species, including humans—means that there is now a capability to produce proteins, molecular structures and even genomes, and therefore artificial pathogens. So is it time for the UK to have mandatory enforcement and regulation of functional-base synthetic DNA?

My Lords, the development of Evo 2—which is an AI biological model with 9.3 trillion nucleotides extending over 128,000 different species, including humans—means that there is now a capability to produce proteins, molecular structures and even genomes, and therefore artificial pathogens. So is it time for the UK to have mandatory enforcement and regulation of functional-base synthetic DNA?

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Statement today and the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, for her excellent report. We have many reports now describing the tragedies occurring in maternity services. I hope this report will be the final one before we go back to delivering the best maternity...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Statement today and the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, for her excellent report. We have many reports now describing the tragedies occurring in maternity services. I hope this report will be the final one before we go back to delivering the best maternity...

My Lords, if the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester’s speech was inflammatory, mine is burned—so I am starting afresh, ad-libbing. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, on securing this debate. It is not an easy task to win a ballot for debates among the Cross-Benchers, as the...

My Lords, if the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester’s speech was inflammatory, mine is burned—so I am starting afresh, ad-libbing. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, on securing this debate. It is not an easy task to win a ballot for debates among the Cross-Benchers, as the...

My Lords, I will refine the previous questions. Resistant hypertension occurs when the blood pressure does not respond to standard treatment of two, three or even four drugs—hence we call it resistant hypertension. The reason why the renal system is involved is because the sympathetic nervous system acts between the kidneys and the brain. That controls vasodilatation and the production of hormones that raise the blood pressure. By denerving the renal system, which are nerves on the arteries of the kidneys, you can cut out one of the nervous system’s interactions between kidneys and the brain. What is important, therefore, is that people who suffer from resistant hypertension are treated by specialists at a specialist centre that considers denervation as one of the options, because it is not always the only answer. Therefore, does the Minister agree that people with resistant hypertension should be treated in a specialist centre?

My Lords, I will refine the previous questions. Resistant hypertension occurs when the blood pressure does not respond to standard treatment of two, three or even four drugs—hence we call it resistant hypertension. The reason why the renal system is involved is because the sympathetic nervous system acts between the kidneys and the brain. That controls vasodilatation and the production of hormones that raise the blood pressure. By denerving the renal system, which are nerves on the arteries of the kidneys, you can cut out one of the nervous system’s interactions between kidneys and the brain. What is important, therefore, is that people who suffer from resistant hypertension are treated by specialists at a specialist centre that considers denervation as one of the options, because it is not always the only answer. Therefore, does the Minister agree that people with resistant hypertension should be treated in a specialist centre?

My Lords, does the Minister agree that we are more likely to succeed in having international regulation for AI if the regulations are based not on a single set of regulations for all algorithms but on risk-based classifications in a set of regulations, as with other technologies such as atomic energy?

My Lords, does the Minister agree that we are more likely to succeed in having international regulation for AI if the regulations are based not on a single set of regulations for all algorithms but on risk-based classifications in a set of regulations, as with other technologies such as atomic energy?

My Lords, if our intention is to increase the diagnosis rate of early dementia, normally what we would do is to find a screening test that would identify people at risk of any disease. There is one called Mini-Cog; it takes three minutes to administer and uses word registration and recall and a clock to diagnose early dementia. Why do we not use that as a screening test, easily implemented by trained people to increase the rate of diagnosis of dementia?

My Lords, if our intention is to increase the diagnosis rate of early dementia, normally what we would do is to find a screening test that would identify people at risk of any disease. There is one called Mini-Cog; it takes three minutes to administer and uses word registration and recall and a clock to diagnose early dementia. Why do we not use that as a screening test, easily implemented by trained people to increase the rate of diagnosis of dementia?

My Lords, several trials are assessing the use of AI for prostate cancer screening and diagnostics, as well as testing the accuracy of digital imaging and histological imaging of biopsies to understand better the progression of disease. Some of them are well funded. For instance, the screening programme has £42 million of funding. Similar trials are conducted for lung, ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancer. The common issue that comes out is that we need digital transformation throughout the NHS to deliver any of these uses of AI for cancer. We need a workforce that is trained to use it, and I hope that the workforce strategy that the Government are about to publish will specifically include how the workforce will be trained to use AI in healthcare.

My Lords, several trials are assessing the use of AI for prostate cancer screening and diagnostics, as well as testing the accuracy of digital imaging and histological imaging of biopsies to understand better the progression of disease. Some of them are well funded. For instance, the screening programme has £42 million of funding. Similar trials are conducted for lung, ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancer. The common issue that comes out is that we need digital transformation throughout the NHS to deliver any of these uses of AI for cancer. We need a workforce that is trained to use it, and I hope that the workforce strategy that the Government are about to publish will specifically include how the workforce will be trained to use AI in healthcare.

My Lords, going back to the question about access to compassionate medicine, as I understand, the Minister just stated that medicines that are not yet authorised or licensed can be issued if companies agree to provide them for free, and that HMRC charges VAT on them. If the medicines are...

My Lords, going back to the question about access to compassionate medicine, as I understand, the Minister just stated that medicines that are not yet authorised or licensed can be issued if companies agree to provide them for free, and that HMRC charges VAT on them. If the medicines are...

My Lords, we lead in genomic science and infrastructure by having established seven hubs for genomic testing. Despite this, we fall behind in testing for liquid biopsies of DNA and for circulating DNA, in histology testing, in molecular testing of cancer tissues and in testing for genetically inherited genes in families. All these are because of bottlenecks—not because the machines cannot do the tests. We need somebody to get a grip of the administrative backlogs that occur because we are failing on timelines for all these, which are government targets. Can the Minister answer on that?

My Lords, we lead in genomic science and infrastructure by having established seven hubs for genomic testing. Despite this, we fall behind in testing for liquid biopsies of DNA and for circulating DNA, in histology testing, in molecular testing of cancer tissues and in testing for genetically inherited genes in families. All these are because of bottlenecks—not because the machines cannot do the tests. We need somebody to get a grip of the administrative backlogs that occur because we are failing on timelines for all these, which are government targets. Can the Minister answer on that?

I suggest that the Minister looks again at the evidence produced recently by Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy drugs for obesity reduction, to see whether what was just said still applies in the new study.

I suggest that the Minister looks again at the evidence produced recently by Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy drugs for obesity reduction, to see whether what was just said still applies in the new study.

My Lords, coming back to the Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Royall of Blaisdon, it is disappointing that the screening committee did not approve of screening for people with a strong family history, particularly of breast cancer, which the Minister mentioned, as BRCA genes are also associated with prostate cancer. So the screening committee might be asked to look at the evidence of family linkage to see whether that should not be included in “high risk”. By the way, coming to a better test than PSA, there is the promise of a saliva test with a higher specificity developed by Marsden cancer research institute. That is going to trial, and it may help.

My Lords, coming back to the Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Royall of Blaisdon, it is disappointing that the screening committee did not approve of screening for people with a strong family history, particularly of breast cancer, which the Minister mentioned, as BRCA genes are also associated with prostate cancer. So the screening committee might be asked to look at the evidence of family linkage to see whether that should not be included in “high risk”. By the way, coming to a better test than PSA, there is the promise of a saliva test with a higher specificity developed by Marsden cancer research institute. That is going to trial, and it may help.

My Lords, I commend the Government for their sovereign AI development, particularly the Isambard-AI project at Bristol University, which has one of the world’s fastest processors. My question relates to parallel development. Do the Government still have a plan for the parallel development of the cloud, to assist in both digitisation and health research data for the NHS?

My Lords, I commend the Government for their sovereign AI development, particularly the Isambard-AI project at Bristol University, which has one of the world’s fastest processors. My question relates to parallel development. Do the Government still have a plan for the parallel development of the cloud, to assist in both digitisation and health research data for the NHS?

My Lords, the vaccine that exists is effective only against Ebola Zaire. The strain now operating has had two previous minor breakouts; Bundibugyo is the name of the strain. I hope the Minister will agree that our hope lies in developing a vaccine as quickly as we can, which might take up to six or nine months. But we have the knowledge of the vaccine against the Zaire strain, which is an advantage. The outbreak has now reached Kampala, which is worrying, but the Ugandans are apt, as they demonstrated previously, at isolating the cases and stopping the outbreak going any further. I hope it will not spread any further.

My Lords, the vaccine that exists is effective only against Ebola Zaire. The strain now operating has had two previous minor breakouts; Bundibugyo is the name of the strain. I hope the Minister will agree that our hope lies in developing a vaccine as quickly as we can, which might take up to six or nine months. But we have the knowledge of the vaccine against the Zaire strain, which is an advantage. The outbreak has now reached Kampala, which is worrying, but the Ugandans are apt, as they demonstrated previously, at isolating the cases and stopping the outbreak going any further. I hope it will not spread any further.

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that notice before I got up. In the brief few minutes I have, I am going to speak mostly about the Health Bill. The Bill is light in legislation, with 72 clauses and 48 pages, but it has 143 pages of schedules....

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that notice before I got up. In the brief few minutes I have, I am going to speak mostly about the Health Bill. The Bill is light in legislation, with 72 clauses and 48 pages, but it has 143 pages of schedules....

My Lords, healthy life expectancy is a mix of two data: a more precise life expectancy and a much cruder self-reporting of the stages of health. This leads to a confusing interpretation and therefore is not helpful in policy-making decisions. We have to find and seek better information about healthy life expectancy and the parameters that affect it, to be more effective in policy decisions. Does the Minister agree?

My Lords, healthy life expectancy is a mix of two data: a more precise life expectancy and a much cruder self-reporting of the stages of health. This leads to a confusing interpretation and therefore is not helpful in policy-making decisions. We have to find and seek better information about healthy life expectancy and the parameters that affect it, to be more effective in policy decisions. Does the Minister agree?

My Lords, in an era of more personalised medicine, it is important to note that the care of women who have miscarried is dependent on several factors: the gestation age when miscarriage occurs, the age of the mother, and any existing diseases. It is not just about the number of miscarriages the mother has had when the investigation starts. There should be more personalised aftercare for every mother who loses a baby.

My Lords, in an era of more personalised medicine, it is important to note that the care of women who have miscarried is dependent on several factors: the gestation age when miscarriage occurs, the age of the mother, and any existing diseases. It is not just about the number of miscarriages the mother has had when the investigation starts. There should be more personalised aftercare for every mother who loses a baby.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply on the Statement, and I commend the Government for taking immediate action when this data breach was known. Last Tuesday, the Science and Technology Committee took evidence from the chief executive of UK Biobank, and some of the issues brought out...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply on the Statement, and I commend the Government for taking immediate action when this data breach was known. Last Tuesday, the Science and Technology Committee took evidence from the chief executive of UK Biobank, and some of the issues brought out...

My Lords, my interests are well known in regard to women’s health. I congratulate the Minister on this report, which I think is a good one. The gaps are in how, in some places, it will be delivered on. But I also recognise her personal commitment to improving women’s health,...

My Lords, my interests are well known in regard to women’s health. I congratulate the Minister on this report, which I think is a good one. The gaps are in how, in some places, it will be delivered on. But I also recognise her personal commitment to improving women’s health,...

It is because of the speaker system.

It is because of the speaker system.