Cancer: Medical Treatments

(asked on 4th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 2020 Spending Review, what additional resources he plans to allocate to the NHS to clear the backlog of cancer treatments as a result of the response by the NHS to the covid-19 outbreak; and whether his Department has plans to publish a detailed cancer strategy once that outbreak has concluded.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 15th February 2021

In August 2020, the National Health Service announced a £160 million initiative to extend access to ‘COVID-19 friendly’ cancer treatments and in October £150 million funding was provided to expand diagnostic capacity. A further £325 million for diagnostic equipment was announced in November’s Spending Review. Cancer patients continue to be prioritised within the additional £1 billion announced within Spending Review 2020 to tackle the elective backlog.

NHS England’s Cancer Recovery Plan sets out the aims and actions needed to recover from the impact of COVID-19, while the NHS Long Term Plan remains the detailed strategy for cancer services and will continue to apply after the pandemic.

Reticulating Splines