Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of using breast density assessment software at women's first breast cancer screening appointments; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of that technology on women's awareness of their personal risk of developing breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Breast Screening Risk Adaptive Imaging for Density trial is looking into the use of supplementary imaging techniques for women, within the standard breast screening programme, who are found to have radiographically dense breast tissue. The UK National Screening Committee, which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries in the United Kingdom, will review this evidence when it becomes available.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to not recommend trastuzumab deruxtecan for HER2-low secondary breast cancer for use on NHS on the life expectancy of eligible women.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not yet published final guidance on the use of trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) for the treatment of metastatic HER2-low breast cancer. The NICE published final draft guidance on 5 March 2024, that does not recommend it as a clinically and cost-effective use of National Health Service resources. Stakeholders had until 19 March 2024 to lodge an appeal against the NICE’s recommendations. The NICE currently expects to publish final guidance on 3 April 2024.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
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 the backlog of breast cancer surgeries, treatments and screenings resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The National Health Service is restoring the full operation of all cancer services, with local delivery plans being delivered by Cancer Alliances.
Systems will work with general practitioners and the public locally to restore the number of people coming forward and being referred with suspected cancer to at least pre-pandemic levels.
Sufficient diagnostic capacity in COVID-19 secure environments will be supplied through the use of independent sector facilities, the development of Community Diagnostic Hubs and Rapid Diagnostic Centres, further all cancer screening programmes will be fully restarted.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of school children who have had HPV vaccinations delayed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill
School-aged vaccinations, including human papillomavirus (HPV), were impacted by the closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. School-aged immunisation providers across the country are now working with NHS England and NHS Improvement commissioners with clinical advice from Public Health England to catch up those vaccinations that were previously paused.
Whilst we do not have an estimate of the number of school children whose HPV vaccination has been delayed due the COVID-19 outbreak, the priority now is to ensure that all those eligible are offered at least one dose of HPV vaccine, as per the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.