Labour’s Sector Plan for Life Sciences

Building on its series of sector-specific policy plans, Labour has this week published a sector plan for life sciences, outlining the party’s priorities to boost UK R&D and improve health outcomes through innovation.

We reflect on the key commitments and what the landscape for life sciences could look like under a Labour government.

Technology and Data: The sector plan’s focus on big data comes as no surprise. Shadow Secretary for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, has long underlined his belief that the NHS must move from an analogue to a digital service, extolling the virtues of data-driven healthcare and lamenting the fact that the NHS app remains under-utilised in relation to improving individual and public health outcomes.

The sector plan commits to addressing interoperability between NHS systems, to enable the NHS app as a ‘one stop shop’ for health information as well as utilising the NHS Federated data platform to deliver better treatment and care.

There are numerous hurdles to overcome if the NHS is to move towards digital delivery – including winning over public trust and consent; ensuring digitisation doesn’t deepen or create health inequalities; and implementing proper oversight and governance across the data ecosystem.

Nonetheless, the UK’s data is an asset perhaps unrivalled across the world, offering the opportunity for the UK to be world-leading if a digital revolution is realised.

Championing life sciences: Whilst the green energy economy has been front and centre of Labour’s growth mission, there is no doubt that life sciences are viewed as a key part of the party’s industrial strategy and plans for economic growth. Commitments to prioritise the UK’s life sciences institutions, covering the Office for Life Sciences and the Life Sciences Council, are a clear underlining of the importance Labour place on R&D investment in the UK.

Amongst the pledges are plans to bring responsibility for the OLS directly into the portfolio of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, seeking to address the enduring challenge of operating an interdepartmental body. Whilst the life sciences sector will welcome these plans, many will want to see more in relation to joining up the whole life sciences ecosystem, including the ways in which the MHRA, NICE, and NHS England are brought together with industry, research charities and others, through a politically empowered Office for Life Sciences that truly fosters and grows innovation in the UK.

Setting out a vision: The sector plan stops short of setting out an entirely new vision for life sciences by the end of the next Parliament, instead making an explicit reference to aligning with the current Life Sciences Vision. In doing so, the plan leaves open the scope for working within the current institutions and structures, whilst seeking to unlock some of the longstanding challenges holding back innovation and growth – such as uptake and adoption, and clinical trial recruitment. ?

More than anything, the plan provides a roadmap for which Labour can now be held accountable and, for the sector, the next few months should provide a platform for determining what the measures of success should be and articulating exactly what life sciences can deliver for the UK if these commitments are delivered fully and effectively.