Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2015 to Question 18808, what assessment he made of the conclusion by the Independent Cancer Taskforce in its 2015 report entitled Achieving world class outcomes for cancer: A strategy for England 2015-2020 that faecal immunochemical testing has extremely poor rates of detection for precancerous polyps.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recently consulted on the use of Faecal Immunochemical testing (FIT) as an alternative screen test for bowel cancer. Both the UK NSC and the Independent Cancer Taskforce are supportive of the initial results of the FIT pilot, which indicates that this test is more acceptable to the screened population with a significant increase in participation (10%). The UK NSC has published its minutes from the November meeting and recommends a change to use FIT as the primary test to be used in the National Health Service Bowel Cancer Screening Programme.
We are considering the UK NSC’s recommendation.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of patient access to innovative drugs approved under the MHRA's Early Access to Medicines Scheme ahead of NICE assessments and in the absence of any planned Cancer Drugs Fund meetings.
Answered by George Freeman
The Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) was launched in April 2014. Its purpose is to support access in the United Kingdom to unlicensed or off-label medicines representing a significant advance in treatment in areas of unmet medical need.
EAMS is a 2 step process. First, the Promising Innovative Medicine designation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is designed to give an early signal that based on early clinical evidence the medicine may be a possible candidate for EAMS and thus have the potential to be of value in areas of unmet medical need. There have been eight EAMS Promising Innovative Medicines designations issued so far.
Second, the EAMS scientific opinion by the MHRA, which we envisage will usually be towards the end of the development process, enables prescribers and patients to decide if the EAMS medicine might be suitable for that individual patient. Four positive EAMS scientific opinions have been issued.
For medicines granted a scientific opinion and which then receive a marketing authorisation, it is for commissioners to make funding decisions in advance of any technology appraisal guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
There will be a review of EAMS as part of the Accelerated Access Review currently underway.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had on the availability of nivolumab for melanoma patients through the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Answered by George Freeman
We have had no such discussions.
NHS England is responsible for the operational management of the Cancer Drugs Fund. It has taken a decision not to consider new drugs like nivolumab, at this stage, whilst consideration is given to new ways of working and to ensure that the Fund remains within budget.
We understand that NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will shortly be consulting jointly on a proposed new system for commissioning cancer drugs.
The Government remains committed to the Fund which has so far helped over 72,000 people in England access the cancer drugs their doctors recommend for them.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure access for NHS patients to innovative new medicines that have received marketing authorisation before their assessment from NICE.
Answered by George Freeman
In the absence of guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund new medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.
We take the issue of ensuring rapid access to innovative therapies very seriously, which is why we have launched an Accelerated Access Review to make recommendations to Government later in the year on speeding up access for National Health Service patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines, diagnostics and medical technologies.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England plans to take to ensure that patients and clinicians are aware of the drugs delisted from the Cancer Drugs Fund as announced on 12 January 2015.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that a meeting with patient groups and charities was held on 19 January 2015 to provide the context for the changes being made to the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list, how the review was undertaken by the CDF clinical panel and the results. Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions to provide further clarity.
Information on the outcomes from the review is available on NHS England’s website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf
and has been circulated to NHS England networks. Clinicians are also being informed via the regional CDF teams.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NHS England has to respond to patient groups and charities who are concerned about the removal of clinically effective drugs from the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that a meeting with patient groups and charities was held on 19 January 2015 to provide the context for the changes being made to the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list, how the review was undertaken by the CDF clinical panel and the results. Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions to provide further clarity.
Information on the outcomes from the review is available on NHS England’s website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf
and has been circulated to NHS England networks. Clinicians are also being informed via the regional CDF teams.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NHS England has to consult (a) charities and (b) patients after the Cancer Drugs Fund panel meets on 15 and 16 December 2014 and before decisions on which drugs remain on the Cancer Drugs Fund list are made public.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund panel plans to meet on 15 and 16 December to assess, on the basis of the latest evidence, whether certain drugs should continue to be made routinely available through the Fund and to consider a number of new drugs for potential addition to the Fund.
NHS England has advised that a meeting will be held with representatives of charities and patient groups on 12 January 2015 to communicate the outcome of the panel’s discussion, clarify the process by which decisions were made and the rationale for these.
This meeting will form part of the two month notice period prior to any drugs being formally removed from the national Cancer Drugs Fund list.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to develop and support the cancer screening programme.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The NHS Cancer Screening Programmes screen millions of people each year in order to detect cancer or abnormalities which could develop into cancer if left undetected and untreated. They are supported by a national co-ordinating team and regional quality assurance teams in Public Health England (PHE).
On the specific programmes, NHS England and PHE are working together to set up screening centres for Bowel Scope Screening (BSS) for 55 year-olds as an addition to the current NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Our commitment is to have BSS rolled out to 60% of screening centres in England by the end of March 2015, and to all screening centres in England by the end of 2016. In addition, as part of the original programme, PHE are piloting a new form of home testing kit (faecal immunochemical testing - FIT) which is easier to use and potentially more accurate than the current faecal occult blood (FOB) test used in the programme.
The NHS Breast Cancer Screening Programme has developed considerably with the use of digital mammography in screening clinics and the extensions to the age range for screening women, including the current randomised controlled trial screening 47-49 and 71-73 year-old women. Around 97.1% of women who have had invasive breast cancer detected by screening are alive five years later and over three quarters of the women whose cancer is detected by the programme do not need chemotherapy.
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme is currently piloting the use of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as the primary screen for cervical disease in order to achieve better, more personalised outcomes for women. Through early detection and treatment the NHS Cervical Screening Programme can prevent around 75% of cervical cancers developing; where an early cancer is found, women with cervical cancer diagnosed by screening have a better chance of being cured than those who present with symptoms.
All NHS screening programmes are based on National Screening Committee recommendations using the best evidence available.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it an objective of his Department to reduce late stage (3 and 4) cancer diagnosis and increase the proportion of cancers diagnosed at early stage (1 and 2).
Answered by Jane Ellison
Through Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (2011), the Government has invested an additional £750 million in improving cancer services, including over £450 million supporting earlier diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis is an essential element in delivering against the Government’s ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives from cancer per year by 2014-15.
Through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, the Department continues to work in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), NHS England, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and other public and voluntary sector organisations to support centrally led Be Clear on Cancer symptom awareness campaigns and work to support general practitioners and primary care.
We know that diagnosis at an early stage of a cancer’s development leads to improved survival chances. An indicator on the proportion of cancers diagnosed at an early stage is therefore a useful proxy for assessing improvements in cancer survival rates. This is why the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) includes an indicator on the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2.
PHE has published the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 or 2 as part of PHOF. This has also been published as part of the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set. PHE’s National Cancer Intelligence Network is using these staging data to examine the impact of the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns on any shift in the stage at diagnosis.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Through Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (2011), the Government has invested an additional £750 million in improving cancer services, including over £450 million supporting earlier diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis is an essential element in delivering against the Government’s ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives from cancer per year by 2014-15.
Through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, the Department continues to work in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), NHS England, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and other public and voluntary sector organisations to support centrally led Be Clear on Cancer symptom awareness campaigns and work to support general practitioners and primary care.
We know that diagnosis at an early stage of a cancer’s development leads to improved survival chances. An indicator on the proportion of cancers diagnosed at an early stage is therefore a useful proxy for assessing improvements in cancer survival rates. This is why the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) includes an indicator on the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2.
PHE has published the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 or 2 as part of PHOF. This has also been published as part of the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set. PHE’s National Cancer Intelligence Network is using these staging data to examine the impact of the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns on any shift in the stage at diagnosis.