To ask the Minister of Health to outline the implications of the first NHS Cannabis Patient Data Registry for patients in Northern Ireland.

The NHS Cannabis Patient Data Registry was launched in England on 1 April 2021 and discussions are currently ongoing between the health departments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to consider how the scope of this registry can be extended to patients across the UK, in line with the recommendations set out in NHS England’s 2019 report on the barriers to accessing cannabis-based products for medicinal use on NHS prescription. (Barriers to accessing cannabis-based products for medicinal use on NHS prescription (england.nhs.uk)).

It is hoped that the establishment of a detailed and consistent set of data will add to the underlying evidence base for the use of medicinal cannabis by providing information on which to base the development of randomised clinical trials for new treatments, as happens in many other areas of clinical practice.