Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve the early diagnosis of lung cancer; and if he will make a statement.
NHS England has made £200 million transformation funding available over two years to drive earlier diagnosis and support people living with and beyond cancer.
A number of initiatives are in place to improve early diagnosis of cancer, including lung cancer:
- NHE England is implementing the nationally agreed rapid assessment and diagnostic pathways for lung, prostate and colorectal cancers, ensuring that patients get timely access to the latest diagnosis and treatment.
- Public Health England ran a national Be Clear On Cancer respiratory symptoms campaign from April to August 2017, focusing on the symptoms of persistent cough and breathlessness. The campaign covered lung cancer along with other conditions such as heart disease and other lung disease. Further information is available at:
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/16-be-clear-on-cancer/overview
- NHS England is also trialling new ways of diagnosing cancers faster and earlier, including through pilot programmes offering low dose computed tomography scanning based on an assessment of lung cancer risk in clinical commissioning groups with low lung cancer survival rates.