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 increase the availability of non-invasive cancer treatment technologies in the NHS.

The adoption of new treatments, including increasing the number of minimally invasive cancer treatments, into the National Health Service in England is generally the result of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and commissioner decisions. Both NHS England and integrated care boards (ICBs) are required to put in place access for any treatment that carries a positive recommendation from the Technology Appraisal programme, operated by NICE.

Where treatments are approved by NICE through the Technology Appraisals programme, the NHS is required to make them available within agreed timescales, which vary by technology. Implementation of any NICE approvals will be supported by the service readiness assessment and the development of additional capacity where necessary.

The NHS continues to increase investment in minimally invasive cancer therapies and radiotherapy and chemotherapy services. Since April 2022, the responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines has sat with local systems. This is supported by the 2021 Spending Review, which set aside £12 billion in operational capital for the NHS from 2022 to 2025.