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 to reduce waiting times for cancer diagnostic tests at (a) Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (b) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are part of the £160 million elective accelerator program, supporting them to increase activity levels to reduce waiting times.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is working to establish rapid diagnostic centres, to improve pathways and ensure more patients are seen sooner. The Trust has established a working group with local cancer alliances to improve waiting times for endoscopy. The Trust is also introducing new roles such as advanced clinical practitioners in upper gastrointestinal and colorectal services to triage and assess patients early on to reduce waiting times.