Cancer: Medical Treatments

(asked on 25th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS spent on providing oncological treatment in each year since 2010.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 2nd April 2019

NHS England holds data in relation to the number of people starting definitive cancer treatment in each year from 2010. This includes people who have received their first cancer treatment in that year, which includes all types of cancer treatment and not just oncological treatments (chemotherapy and radiotherapy).

The number of people receiving their first treatment for cancer each year has risen significantly each year since 2010. It should be noted that the 2018 data is published but includes three months of provisional data, so could be subject to slight adjustment.

Year

Patients receiving first treatment

2010

242,396

2011

252,483

2012

259,853

2013

264,437

2014

271,662

2015

279,887

2016

285,894

2017

295,133

2018

308,058

Total

2,459,803

NHS England holds data in relation to specialised commissioning spend that will contribute to the overall spend, from 2013/14 onwards. The financial values have been consolidated through the use of NPoC (National Programme of Care) codes and are taken from our annual spend analysis exercise. This exercise uses Provider Aggregate Contract Monitoring as the basis for the data; where this data is incomplete hubs will apportion / estimate any missing values. The costs for chemotherapy and specialised cancer surgery have been combined for 2013/14 and 2014/15.

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

NPoC

£ million

£ million

£ million

£ million

£ million

B01 - Radiotherapy

340.2

315.2

368.5

425.0

390.9

B02 - Chemotherapy

1,730.8

2,305.9

1,417.1

1,858.3

2,014.8

B03 - Specialised cancer surgery

1,071.3

806.3

1,240.5

B04 - Specialised cancer diagnostics

56.3

66.3

78.3

78.1

98.2

B05 - Children and young adult cancer services

79.9

94.0

121.9

124.1

178.8

Total

2,207.2

2,781.4

3,057.1

3,291.8

3,923.1

Additionally, as a further indication toward total spend, NHS Improvement estimates the total cost to National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts for providing oncological treatment as follows.

Year

Estimated total cost (£ million)

2010-11

£1,801

2011-12

£2,051

2012-13

£2,259

2013-14

£2,457

2014-15

£2,706

2015-16

£2,864

2016-17

£2,955

2017-18

£3,224

The data source for the table is from reference costs, which are the average unit costs to NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Cost data provided includes:

- Those that relate to the following treatment function code (TFC):

- 260 - Paediatric medical oncology

- 370 - Medical oncology

- 503 - Gynaecological oncology

- 800 - Clinical oncology (previously radiotherapy);

- Cancer multi-disciplinary team meetings;

- Chemotherapy and radiotherapy services; and

- Cancer related community health services.

This may not cover all costs associated with oncology. There are areas related to oncology where the costs cannot be identified. These would include:

- Homecare drugs;

- Diagnostic imaging; and

- Other cancer related health resource groups (HRGs) in other TFCs.

There are no primary care costs included within the data.

Data on the number of IT systems used within oncology treatment in the NHS is not available.

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