Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, published on 4 April 2022, whether his Department plans to take steps to help tackle regional variations in the use of teledermatology within dermatology services in England; whether his Department has provided funding for the implementation of new pathways proposed within that guidance; and whether accountability mechanisms have been put in place to help ensure that integrated care systems implement those pathways in England.

The Outpatient Recovery and Transformation (OPRT) programme has delivered a series of webinars and processes to raise awareness of various outpatient improvement initiatives to support Integrated Care Systems, with signposting to online resources and contacts for support in implementation.

The OPRT in collaboration with the National Cancer team and other stakeholders have published the Implementing a timed skin cancer diagnostic pathway guidance for local health and care systems (in October 2022), including for teledermatology pathways to support two week wait skin cancer delivery.

NHS England provide support, funding and guidance to help cancer alliances improve outcomes and reduce variation. This includes programme management to support delivery and implementing guidance for achieving best practice. Estimates of costs of establishing teledermatology services are the remit of commissioner and provider organisations.