Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce geographic inequalities in access to approved blood cancer treatments in England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reducing inequalities in cancer diagnosis, care, and outcomes is a key priority for the National Cancer Plan. The plan will look at the targeted improvements needed across different cancer types to reduce disparities in cancer survival, and will develop interventions to tackle these. This includes looking at protected characteristics, as well as inequalities related to socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and geographic location.
The Government is committed to improving access for everyone to treatment and care for all cancer types, including blood cancer. To help achieve this, the National Health Service in England has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to ensure early diagnosis and faster treatment.
The NHS England Cancer Programme also commissions clinical cancer audits, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients, including those with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a type of blood cancer.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is planning to take through the National Cancer Plan to (a) improve early diagnosis rates and (b) reduce the number of those being diagnosed with blood cancer in an emergency care setting.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has announced that the National Cancer Plan will be published later this year, following the recent publication of the 10-Year Health Plan. The National Cancer Plan will ensure that all cancer patients, including patients with blood cancer, will have access to the best cancer care and treatments. It will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care.
The Department is supporting the National Health Service to reduce the number of cancers diagnosed in emergency care settings, by improving waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, starting by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.
Alongside improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which is one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways.
Further actions on improving the survival of all cancers, including blood cancer, will be outlined in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Cancer Plan will include specific targets for improving the early diagnosis rates of blood cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has announced that the National Cancer Plan will be published later this year, following the recent publication of the 10-Year Health Plan. The National Cancer Plan will ensure that all cancer patients, including patients with blood cancer, will have access to the best cancer care and treatments. It will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care.
The Department is supporting the National Health Service to reduce the number of cancers diagnosed in emergency care settings, by improving waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, starting by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.
Alongside improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which is one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways.
Further actions on improving the survival of all cancers, including blood cancer, will be outlined in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a0 monitoring and (b) management of individuals diagnosed with Monoclonal Gammopathy of an Undetermined Significance.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes for all patients across England. This includes the monitoring of patients with pre-cancerous conditions like monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) who carry a small risk of progressing to multiple myeloma or other related cancers.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced that a National Cancer Plan for England will be published this year, supporting the Prime Minister’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future and reduce the number of lives lost to cancer. As part of the National Cancer Plan, we are committed to working closely with partners and patient groups to shape the long-term vision for cancer.
Patients diagnosed with MGUS must be appropriately and effectively monitored both in primary care and secondary care, with regular blood tests to check for any change in their condition and to ensure that any need for treatment can be met as soon as possible.
Our 10 year plan commits to shifting care from the hospital to the community, including diagnostic tests, and to ensuring care is more integrated across primary and secondary care. Diagnostic tests, such as blood tests, should be more easily accessible and located in the community where possible, which is more convenient for patients than going to hospital. In addition to diagnostic capacity in traditional settings such as general practices and hospitals, we have committed to build upon the current 170 community diagnostic centres that are open across the country by expanding a number of these and by building up to five new ones, as well as expanding the number that are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
Our Elective Reform Plan commits to more integrated working between primary and secondary care, including diagnostics. Further investment and improvement of the NHS electronic referral service will support effective joint clinical decision making and improve the quality of information shared between primary and secondary care.
Healthcare services provided by general practice, including phlebotomy and blood tests, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards based on population need.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Workforce Plan will take steps to increase the number of clinical academics dedicated to blood cancer research.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will be published later this year. It would not be right to pre-empt the details that will be in the plan. We will work with partners to make sure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is the largest funder of clinical academic training in the United Kingdom, delivering a comprehensive research career pathway for the full range of clinicians. The NIHR welcomes applications for training awards from the clinical and non-clinical academic workforce conducting research into any aspect of human health, including blood cancer. The NIHR continuously reviews the training offer to identify and address gaps across specialism, geography, and profession, in line with the Department’s priorities.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Workforce Plan will include policies on blood cancer healthcare professionals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will be published later this year. It would not be right to pre-empt the details that will be in the plan. We will work with partners to make sure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is the largest funder of clinical academic training in the United Kingdom, delivering a comprehensive research career pathway for the full range of clinicians. The NIHR welcomes applications for training awards from the clinical and non-clinical academic workforce conducting research into any aspect of human health, including blood cancer. The NIHR continuously reviews the training offer to identify and address gaps across specialism, geography, and profession, in line with the Department’s priorities.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce a national cancer medicines advisory group for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention, and research and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. We are considering what governance mechanisms will be appropriate to deliver the ambitions of the National Cancer Plan, including how we could improve treatment.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to issue guidance to integrated care boards requiring them to protect the local place parts of their organisations when they are making their required spending reductions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the necessary changes to support the National Health Service to recover, NHS England has indicated that integrated care boards (ICBs) should reduce in size. The Government is supportive of NHS England’s decision and will work with NHS England to make the necessary choices that are needed to get the NHS back on its feet. We expect ICBs to continue to deliver their responsibilities, including the planning and delivery of health and care services. Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to ensure that the expected hundreds of millions of pounds savings made will be reinvested into frontline services to deliver better care for patients.
Further detail on the future of ICBs was provided in a letter issued to all ICBs and NHS trusts and foundation trusts on 1 April 2025. This letter is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/
Places are crucial for supporting the delivery of neighbourhood health, the three shifts, and the Health Mission. The Government continues to see place as a vital commissioning footprint within integrated care systems. Further details on this will be set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, what extra funding he plans to provide for public health.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
We will confirm 2025/26 local authority public health funding at the earliest opportunity, and will confirm future years’ funding following the upcoming Spending Review next spring.
The Autumn Budget sets out the Government’s commitment to strengthen the United Kingdom’s pandemic preparedness and health protection with £460 million of investment.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of NHS (a) radiologists and (b) oncologists.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need, including radiologists and oncologists, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.