Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve local clinical leadership in cancer care.

The NHS Long Term Plan highlights the importance of visible senior clinical leadership in enabling and assuring the delivery of high quality care both within organisations and in the new system architecture.

In February 2019, NHS England published clinical leadership guidance for all clinicians, including those providing cancer services. This guide provides a framework for action, to help leaders working on clinical leadership gain new perspectives on what might be standing in the way of progress, sets out legal and policy considerations, and poses key questions for senior leaders trying to increase the involvement of clinicians. It includes vignettes that show how people are already tackling some common barriers.