Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with NHS England on introducing a promotional campaign to help patients recognise early symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not had recent discussions with NHS England specifically on introducing a promotional campaign to recognise symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

NHS England is delivering a range of interventions that are expected to increase early diagnosis and improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer. This includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer and diagnose cancers sooner, creating new pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types, and increasing general practice direct access to diagnostic tests. A group has been formed to consider a pathway for Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary cancers, including pancreatic cancer.

On the 8 January 2024, NHS England relaunched the Help Us Help You cancer campaigns, designed to increase earlier diagnosis of cancer by reducing barriers to seeking earlier help, as well as increasing body vigilance and knowledge of key red flag symptoms. This campaign address barriers to people coming forward with suspected signs of cancer in general and is not specific to pancreatic cancer.