Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure (a) patients with secondary breast cancer and (b) other patients having noncurative treatment are not deprioritised for treatment ahead of a potential second wave of covid-19.

Ensuring cancer services have continued throughout the pandemic has been, and continues to be, a priority for this Government. This includes services for those with secondary cancers, and patients receiving noncurative treatments.

The strategy for maintaining services through the second wave stands, with key messages including: maintaining or stepping up hubs for cancer surgery; maximising independent sector use; ensuring good patient communication, with use of pathway navigators and safety netting; continue to step up cancer clinical trials; and further rolling out of Rapid Diagnostic Centres and stratified follow up, with redeployment of staff or pausing of invitations considered only as a last resort.