NHS App to offer clinical trial access in major digital health update

NHS App users will soon be able to browse and sign up for clinical trials, under government plans to speed up research and widen access to new treatments.

The new feature will eventually use artificial intelligence to match people to relevant studies based on their health records and interests, with alerts sent when suitable trials become available, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

The NHS App will integrate the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Be Part of Research service as part of the government’s 10-year health plan.

Setting up a trial in the NHS currently takes around 250 days—compared to around 100 days in Spain, according to DHSC.

The department aims to cut commercial trial set-up times to 150 days by March 2026, which it described as “the most ambitious reduction in trial set-up times in British history”.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said: “The 10-year plan for health 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.

“The NHS App will become the digital front door to the NHS, and enable all of us as citizens to play our part in developing the medicines of the future.”

He added: “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 10-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.”

The number of trials sponsored by commercial and non-commercial organisations at individual NHS trusts and other institutions, such as universities, will be published.

According to DHSC, this will show which are “performing well and which are falling behind”.

Funding for NHS trusts will be prioritised for those performing the best in delivering clinical trials.

The app announcement comes as the NIHR launches a UK-wide recruitment drive for clinical trials.

People from groups under-represented in research—including young, black and South Asian communities—are especially encouraged to sign up, DHSC said.

Trial set-up in the UK is “too slow” due to “unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication of activities across different agencies and sites”, according to DHSC.

Researchers must currently agree separate contracts with each part of the NHS involved in a trial, but the government plans to introduce a “national standardised contract” to simplify the process.

Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser at DHSC and chief executive of the NIHR, said: “Ensuring all sites are consistently meeting the 150-day or less set-up time will bring us to the starting line, but together we aim to go further, faster to ensure the UK is a global destination for clinical research to improve the health and wealth of the nation.”

The global clinical trials market is expected to be worth at least US$80bn (around £59bn) by 2030, according to Professor Andrew Morris, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a fellowship of leading scientists.

Professor Morris said the app will “accelerate the translation of cutting-edge treatments from laboratory to bedside” and that making research accessible to all communities can help “ensure that medical innovation benefits reach every corner of society.”