Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to ensure that the NHS Genomic Medicine Service’s pipeline of whole genome sequencing for cancer patients is unconstrained by local tissue storage practices; and whether there is a target date for ensuring consistent access across all NHS regions.

As part of the evolving NHS Genomic Medicine Service infrastructure, a new delivery model will be in place from April 2026 to deliver the genomics commitments in the 10-Year Health Plan, the National Cancer Plan, and other national strategies.

Currently, there is variable access to freezers for fresh frozen tissue in the NHS with the associated complexity of cold chain transport. Providing adequate freezer storage for fresh frozen tissue is necessary to ensure that there is equitable regional access to whole genome sequencing (WGS) testing.

In efforts to address this variability NHS England has produced national sample handling guidance to support approaches to the handling of fresh tissue and more recently the use of tissue stabilisers has been introduced to provide an alternative to frozen tissue and still meet the requirements for WGS. NHS England is also currently working with the British Neuro-Oncology Society to map where freezer storage facilities for fresh frozen tissue are required.

Fresh tissue pathways are dependent on system engagement and work is ongoing between the NHS Genomics, Cancer, and Pathology programmes to develop and optimise these pathways and ensure that all appropriate cancer patients, including brain and central nervous system and rare cancers, get the optimal genomic testing for their tumour type.

A number of NHS Genomic Networks of Excellence are also developing the evidence for developing fresh tissue pathways for WGS.