Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will allocate funding for new Clinical Nurse Specialist posts to support secondary breast cancer patients in Hospital Trusts that do not have that post.

NHS England is committed to ensuring that more patients have access to a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or other specialist from diagnosis onwards to guide them through treatment options and ensure they receive appropriate information and support. 91% of patients reported having access to a CNS in the 2017 Cancer Patient Experience Survey.

In December 2017, Health Education England published its first ever cancer workforce plan which commits to the expansion of CNSs so that every patient has access to a CNS or other support worker by 2021. They will do this by developing national competencies and a clear route into training, with a more detailed report on nursing and cancer in the light of new census data in spring 2018.