Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that sarcoma patients in Cornwall, currently facing journeys of hundreds of miles for medical treatment, receive the appropriate medical and therapeutic support within that region.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has published a national service specification, covering both bone and soft tissue sarcomas. The specification requires close working between sarcoma services and other National Health Service partners, co-ordinated by Sarcoma Advisory Groups, to improve care pathways.

Work is underway across both bone and soft tissue sarcoma provision to ensure that cancer care providers meet national service standards and improve care to patients across the country, including Cornwall.

Although patients will sometimes need to travel to specialist centres to access treatment, the National Cancer Plan will seek to make cancer care easier, more local, and more responsive. Rather than requiring endless trips to hospitals, cancer care will happen as locally as it can. This means digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary. Bringing cancer care into the Neighbourhood Health Service is an important part of the National Cancer Plan for England, enabling cancer patients to be treated and cared for closer to home.

The National Cancer Plan will aim to improve how the physical and psychosocial needs of people with cancer can be met, with a focus on personalised care to improve quality of life. It will address how the experience of care can be improved for those diagnosed, treated, and living with and beyond cancer.

The Government welcomes the recent publication of Sarcoma UK’s Sarcoma State of the Nation report as it highlights the importance of early diagnosis, care co-ordination across complex pathways, research into new treatments, and survivorship. Our forthcoming National Cancer Plan will set out how we will improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including sarcoma.