Carl Heneghan

Matt Hancock said he's determined to find ways to save as many lives as possible.

Now, Matt, if you're listening, to do that, you require an evidence-based approach that focuses on developing the research evidence that matters, as opposed to the could, maybe, and potential statements that are littered across this document

That will happen in 2021 when the evidence is not there.

So my understanding, this drug is going to appear in 2021, but everybody's going to go, does it make a difference?

Well, it lowers LDL, but we don't know about the important outcomes.

Yeah, no, this is a really important point because if you want to get drugs onto the market, make them available and understand which is effective, then the NHS is going to have to combine with the National Institute of Health Research and do routine trials embedded in clinical practice.

Therefore, instead of having a trial of 15,000 patients, it could say, we're going to make it available in the context of routine practice in a clinical trial tomorrow, and we're going to follow it up, not just for a year or two, for life.

And we're going to get on with that.

And that would super speed up how we do trials.

To do that, we need to solve some issues like data protection, some of the ethical issues.

But I think that's how I would make drugs available much more speedier.

And it is the people I talk to understand this stuff, think it's a no brainer to do that.

The problem is our structures within the National Health Service just aren't fit for purpose to be able to do these embedded trials in routine practice.

I don't think that will be forthcoming any time soon.

And goodbye from me.

What does it mean to be a resting GP?

That's ridiculous.

Look, there's a dire need for GPs back on the front line.

It is impossible to get back.

Yes, I'm Carl Hennigan.