Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a costed plan for a growing, appropriately-skilled and sustainable cancer workforce will be included within the final NHS People Plan.

The interim People Plan published on 3 June 2019 puts the workforce at the heart of the National Health Service and will ensure we have the staff needed to deliver high quality care. A final People Plan will be published when there is further clarity on NHS education and training budgets.

The Cancer Workforce Plan for England, published in December 2017 by Health Education England (HEE), set out plans to expand capacity and skills in the cancer workforce, including targeting additional training support for seven priority professions such as clinical radiology, histopathology, oncology and diagnostic and therapeutic radiography. Since 2017 there has been a net increase of 833 full time equivalent staff across the seven priority professions.

HEE will now work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications of further development of cancer services. This work will inform the final People Plan.