Sustaining the health and adult social care workforce
What investments and actions are required to create a sustainable health and social care workforce?

This POSTnote considers the arguments surrounding the patenting of human DNA and the issues raised.
Patenting Human DNA (224 KB , PDF)
The UK is active in a large international programme to decipher the human genetic code. A split has developed between those (led by the US Government but followed reluctantly by the UK) who are attempting to patent basic genetic information as soon as it is decoded, and those who believe that patents should only be considered after further inventive steps. This undermines the international cooperation on which the programme relies.
Patenting Human DNA (224 KB , PDF)
What investments and actions are required to create a sustainable health and social care workforce?
Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are important for the UK’s economic future. How can the routes through education and into STEM be improved?
This POSTnote considers the potential impacts of birthrate decline, including on the workforce and the provision of public services.