Cancer: Surgery

(asked on 2nd July 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England will publish a commissioning policy on the use of robotic assisted surgery for kidney and bladder cancer patients.


Answered by
 Portrait
Jane Ellison
This question was answered on 9th July 2015

NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of surgical options for the management of urological cancers. Urological cancer encompasses prostate, bladder, kidney, testicular and penile cancers.

During 2014, the Specialised Urology Clinical Reference Group (CRG) began a process of clinical evidence review and policy development relating to robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) in the management of urological cancers.

The CRG has so far developed two commissioning policies, the first relating to prostate cancer. On 2 July 2015, NHS England set out its planned investment decisions for certain specialised services as part of its annual commissioning round. RAS will be routinely commissioned for early stage prostate cancer.

The second policy related to the use of RAS to treat kidney and bladder cancer where it was proposed initially that RAS should not be routinely commissioned for these indications. A draft policy statement was shared with registered stakeholders of the Specialised Urology CRG over summer 2014 to obtain stakeholder feedback.

As a result of the feedback received, the CRG opted to carry out some further analysis and, having made a successful application to the British Association of Urological Surgeons, the CRG is now able to access raw data to enable the further analysis to take place. This work is nearing completion and it has been agreed to develop a commissioning policy for kidney cancer and a separate commissioning policy for bladder cancer. These will be finalised during 2015-16, and the development process will include engagement with key stakeholders and a period of public consultation.

Reticulating Splines