Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to prioritise implementation of the National Cancer Plan in Frome and East Somerset.

The National Cancer Plan sets out key actions and ambitions to improve cancer outcomes across the entire country, including in Frome and East Somerset. The plan will play a crucial role in reducing disparities in the access and quality of cancer services and will ensure that all patients, no matter their location, have timely access to high-quality cancer care.

The recently reformed National Cancer Board is responsible for tracking the progress of the commitments within the plan and for providing regular updates to ministers. Ministers will publish an annual summary of progress, along with a more in-depth report after three years to assess where the plan needs updating and refreshing to ensure that is has the greatest impact. The board has appointed independent leads to monitor the impact of the plan on health inequalities, rarer cancers, and children and young people’s cancers, to reduce disparities and champion progress across these themes.