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 access to radiotherapy treatment for cancer patients.

Since 2016, approximately £162 million has been invested to replace or upgrade 100 radiotherapy machines, in addition to funding for National Health Service trusts to maintain existing infrastructure. In 2019/20, 11 radiotherapy networks were established in England to improve workforce resilience and increase access to specialist skills and knowledge.

In 2022/23, NHS England is undertaking a review of external beam radiotherapy capacity. This will support local systems to plan radiotherapy provision and allocate system capital allocations appropriately, based on an assessment of equipment age, capacity and demand, opportunities to improve access and service risk.