We'll take spirit of Alexander Fleming into the 21st century

OPINION

Back in 1928, in a little laboratory within the walls of St Mary’s hospital in Paddington the world changed for the better thanks to the work of a British scientist.

When Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, medicine and health care was revolutionised. In the decades after diseases, infections and deaths that were thought to be uncurable were suddenly treatable, and millions of lives were saved.

That game-changing discovery set the foundation for Britain to become a world leader in life-sciences. But we must never take that position for granted.

That is why through our plan for change we are taking decisive action to unlock innovation and drive investment in the sector, while ensuring the NHS continues to get the best deal on medicines and technologies.

Our industrial strategy will once again make the UK a global powerhouse for MedTech and medicines. It will provide a bedrock of innovation for our NHS. By combining the care of our health service with the genius of Britain’s scientific minds, we will deliver cutting-edge treatments for patients and get the economy booming.

As part of the 10-year health plan, the NHS will accelerate the uptake of the most promising innovations to improve the outcomes and value from technologies already in use.

We’ve already committed £600million, alongside the Wellcome Trust, to create a new health data research service. This will provide researchers with secure, streamlined access to NHS data – cutting red tape and helping to turn the vast NHS insight into impact faster than ever before – while guaranteeing patient data remain secure.

But we are going further, announcing an extra £354million for Our Future Health – the largest health research programme in the world – which will help spot emerging diseases earlier so we can act sooner. It’s mobile clinics have already visited communities from Penzance to Kendal, Falkirk to Wrexham – so people everywhere can help shape the future of medicine.

We’re also backing Genomics England with over £650million over five years, unlocking the power of DNA to drive precision medicine across the NHS. That will unlock all kinds of medicine that will dramatically improve care. It won’t just mean faster cancer diagnosis – but being able to predict who is most at risk of cancer, and preventing the disease from ever taking hold. It will enable the NHS to get ahead of illness, and move from one-size-fits-all to truly personalised care.

Bolstering our strengths in genomics will be a core focus of the forthcoming life sciences sector plan. Recognising the life sciences sector’s vital contribution to both health and economic growth, the Sector Plan has been developed in close alignment with the 10-year health plan.

With our work and investment we will make sure the next game changers in medicine are developed here in Britain, for the benefit of our health at home and abroad.