Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding that long NHS waiting times are leading to patient harm of the Public Accounts Committee’s June 2019 report NHS waiting times for elective and cancer treatment, what assessment his Department has made of the variation in waiting times for pancreatic cancer treatment across England.

Clinical priority remains the main determinant of when a patient should be treated.

NHS England will shortly be introducing a Faster Diagnostic Standard of 28 days for all cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer. Trusts should continue to treat patients more quickly where there is a strong clinical need.