Cancer: Health Services

(asked on 21st February 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with (a) health professionals, (b) charities and (c) patient organisations on the Health Education England Cancer Workforce Plan phase 2.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 2nd March 2020

Health Education England (HEE) published phase one of the Cancer Workforce Plan in December 2017, which commits to the expansion of capacity and skills across priority professions within the cancer workforce to 2021.

HEE began work on phase two in early 2018. The work on phase two of the plan was submitted by HEE to NHS England to inform the development of the cancer ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan in July 2018. NHS England established a Cancer Workforce Task and Finish Group in 2019 (including representatives of HEE, the National Health Service, Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Macmillan and Cancer 52). The final NHS People Plan, due to be published in early 2020, will also build upon the progress made through the Cancer Workforce Plan, including taking targeted action to ensure the supply of NHS staff who play a vital role in increasing early diagnosis of cancer.

Ministers and officials regularly meet, both formally and informally, with a wide range of health professionals, patients and charities linked to supporting cancer including CRUK and Macmillan Cancer Support. In October last year Departmental Ministers hosted a cancer workforce roundtable with 25 charities (including patient organisations) and representatives of NHS England and HEE.

Reticulating Splines