Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to GP practices in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on early detection of prostate cancer.

We are committed to ensuring that general practitioners (GPs) have the right training and systems to identify cancer symptoms. Use of specific clinical decision support tools are agreed at a local level. This will benefit cancer patients across England, including in Buckingham and Bletchley. GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.

The Department is taking cancer detection seriously, including in GPs. The Government has recently launched Jess’s Rule, a patient safety initiative that introduces clinical guidance to support clinicians in taking a “fresh eyes” approach in GPs. It asks GPs to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or their symptoms have escalated. This will benefit all cancer patients, including prostate cancer patients.