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 improve the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of breast cancer.

Improving early diagnosis of cancer including breast cancer is a priority for the National Health Service. The NHS has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live for longer. Additionally, the new cancer standards developed and supported by cancer doctors and implemented in October 2023 will ensure patients are diagnosed faster and treatment starts earlier.

The NHS Cancer Programme has also commissioned five new cancer clinical audits including metastatic breast cancers. These will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022 with the first outcomes expected in 2024.

In January 2022 we provided £10 million of funding for 28 new breast screening units and nearly 60 life-saving upgrades to services in the areas where they are most needed, so more women can be checked for signs of cancer, speeding up diagnosis and treatment.