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 that cancer treatment will not be affected by the proposed nursing strikes in the UK.

NHS England will work with providers, professional bodies and trade unions to agree the safe level of staffing during any industrial action. The Royal College of Nursing has announced that chemotherapy treatments will be exempt from strike action. Hospitals will ensure that emergency and urgent treatments will be prioritised and appointments and operations should continue unless there is a reason to reschedule for patient safety.