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 support the uptake of the Play Well toolkit, as laid out in Action 8 for Children and Young People with Cancer, in the National Cancer Plan 2026.

The National Cancer Plan, published on the 4 February 2026, sets out several commitments and ambitions on children and young people’s cancer, to be delivered within the next ten years.

This includes commitments to improve the experience of staying in hospital for young cancer patients. The National Health Service and Starlight's Play Well toolkit will help services deliver high-quality play provision for children, while youth support coordinators will help teenagers and young adults with education, emotional support, and fertility concerns

Decisions on funding services are for local commissioners and this toolkit supports those decision makers to establish services that are high quality and effective. NHS England continues to promote the use of the toolkit and the importance of child focussed care within services.