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 in the West Midlands to ensure that the backlog for cancer treatment is prioritised.

Cancer treatments in the West Midlands have continued throughout the pandemic with little reduction in capacity for chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. Work is now ongoing to prioritise surgery and diagnostic procedures, including additional endoscopy resource, further development of rapid diagnostic centres and implementation of community diagnostic hubs. The implementation of breast pain pathways should reduce demand on cancer services and help focus capacity on where it is needed. The elective recovery programme is underway and is focussing on the reduction of backlogs in the highest priority categories of patients, which includes cancer patients.