Our 2015 manifesto called for future Governments to provide the leadership, motivation and infrastructure to put more of the fruits of scientific research within the reach of the citizen. In particular, we sought changes to accelerate and improve the use of genomics and other technologies for more personalised healthcare
Specifically, we asked the UK Government to:
- Champion the use of personal data for the public good and encourage transparency about data sharing and use so that professionals and public understand the potential benefits, risks and uncertainties
- Mandate the development of NHS systems for comprehensive data collection, curation and access for clinical purposes, including a national genomic database
- Provide incentives for data sharing within the NHS with proportionate and responsible safeguards
- Introduce enabling measures for the health system to evaluate innovations quickly, and ensure the most effective are implemented widely across health services, not just in centres of excellence
- Provide incentives to encourage the widespread integration of genomics and digital health technologies into mainstream medicine, including prioritisation of genomics education for the healthcare workforce across every clinical specialty
- Provide patients with the knowledge and opportunity to make meaningful decisions about their healthcare
- Move towards a paradigm of personalised disease prevention to complement existing population-based approaches, building an NHS that supports people to make informed choices about the care that suits them
- Educate the public on the impact of genomic medicine on their health choices and engage them in rational debate about the future organisation of health systems
- Enable individuals to access new innovations in digital health
Between 2015 and 2020, we were delighted to see huge progress on all these policy goals. Future priorities for policy attention are under review in the light of the broad-ranging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health services and society, as well as ongoing developments in science and technology.