Cancer: Medical Treatments

(asked on 27th November 2023) - View Source

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 increase awareness of minimally invasive cancer therapies among (a) healthcare professionals and (b) patients.


Answered by
Andrew Stephenson Portrait
Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 30th November 2023

The Department recognises that for some cancer patients, minimally invasive cancer therapies have the potential to improve recovery, reduce the length of bed stays in hospital, and produce fewer side effects from treatment. However, cancer patients will often have a range of treatment choices available to them. It is important that informed decisions are taken by each patient, in consultation with their treating clinician, following the advice of multi-disciplinary teams that are expert in the management of cancer. Promotion of one approach would not be appropriate for each patient, so awareness campaigns are not normally undertaken by the Department and the National Health Service.

The adoption of new treatments, including minimally invasive cancer treatments, into the NHS in England is generally the result of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and/or commissioner decisions. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/published

For treatments that form part of a prescribed specialised or highly specialised service, NHS England’s specialised commissioning function is responsible for putting in place access. For treatments that are not part of a prescribed specialised service, the responsibility sits with integrated care boards (ICBs). Both NHS England and ICBs are required to put in place access for any treatment that carries a positive recommendation from the Technology Appraisal programme, operated by NICE. Pharmaceutical companies are also able to accelerate access to new treatments and technologies through schemes like the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, Project Orbis or The Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway, enabling patients to benefit from innovative treatments quickly.

Looking ahead, from April 2024, ICBs will become the responsible commissioner for several specialised services and will want to work with and through local Cancer Alliances to plan and organise access to care for their populations that meets national standards. By integrating the commissioning of specialised and non-specialised services, ICBs will be able to join-up care around patient needs and invest resources where they can have best effect on outcomes, including any decisions on minimally invasive cancer therapies.

Reticulating Splines