Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to increase (a) capacity of and (b) access to radiotherapy cancer treatment in (i) England and (ii) Stratford-upon-Avon.

Radiotherapy is crucial to cancer treatment, and it remains a key priority for the Government to reduce radiotherapy waiting times and provide high quality treatment for all patients, including those in Stratford-upon-Avon. This is why the Government has invested £70 million of central funding on 28 new LINAC radiotherapy machines across the country to replace older, less efficient radiotherapy machines. This crucial investment will boost treatment efficiency and productivity, freeing up capacity and reduce waiting times for patients. These new machines are currently being rolled out and have already started treating cancer patients across the country.

The Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust received £2.3 million to replace ageing radiotherapy equipment from an underspend in the National Health Service’s capital settlement for 2024/25.