Armed Forces: Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 131 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, update on 8 July 2025, what investment he is making in clinical research and development.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones
The Strategic Defence Review recognises sustaining Defence investment in clinical research and development (R&D) and working with industry and academia, is essential to wider clinical value and use, including within the NHS.
Defence Medical Services (DMS) works with academia and industry to carry out military medical research in areas such as anaesthesia and critical care, emergency medicine, mental health, surgery and trauma, and orthopaedics. The DMS budget for clinical R&D in these areas is £1.5 million per year, supplemented by significant leveraged funding from partner nations, charities, and national medical research funders.
DMS is collaborating with the National Institute for Health and Care Research to co-fund Fellowships in military medicine. In collaboration with the Medical Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, Defence is investing in the development of a Centre of Research Excellence in Novel Blood Products. This work will address key priorities for DMS such as ensuring adequate blood supply on operations and supporting the next generation of military medical research leaders.
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