Health Bill

Debate between Lord Stevens of Birmingham and Lord Evans of Rainow

Committee stage
Monday 9th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Stevens of Birmingham (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as chair of Cancer Research UK and wholeheartedly endorse all the previous contributions on this group, which have been outstanding. The purpose of these probing amendments is simply to make sure that cancer remains very firmly on the Government’s agenda. The cancer plan, published in February, has a range of really welcome proposals, but the key thing will be putting them in place. In the cancer plan, there was a commitment to delivering the cancer waiting time standards by 2029. It would be fantastic if the Minister could confirm at the Dispatch Box that that remains the game plan the Government and the NHS have embarked on.

In doing so, can the Minister briefly comment, in the context of the three headline cancer waiting times targets, on the faster diagnosis standard for urgent referral of 28 days? We are seeing a bit of a bifurcation opening up between the faster experience that patients who do not have cancer are having—with cancer being ruled out for 79% of people, against an 80% target, which is great—and maybe only 55% of people who actually have cancer getting their diagnosis within that 28-day period. If we are interested in the outcomes improvement that will come from early diagnosis, it will be crucial to keep a beady eye on the waiting times for diagnosis for people who actually have cancer.