Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will support the establishment of Centres of Excellence for each less survivable cancer type.

To support cancer care for rarer and less survivable cancer type, the Government is committed to helping the National Health Service to diagnose all cancers earlier and to treat them faster.

The Government is also committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment, so that people with cancer, including less survivable cancer, can get access to the care they need more quickly. As the first step to ensuring faster diagnosis and treatment, the National Health Service is delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.

Moreover, full roll out of non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways, designed to speed up the diagnosis of cancer, has been achieved across England. NSS pathways introduce a route to possible diagnosis for patients who display symptoms that could indicate cancer, but which do not align to specific cancers, often the case for less survivable cancers. The new non-specific pathway complements current cancer diagnostic pathways, as well as providing elements that can be applied to existing pathways. The National Cancer Plan, planned for publication later in 2025, will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with rarer and less survivable cancer, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The Department ran a public Call for Evidence to determine priorities for the plan; responses are currently being analysed. The plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including less survivable cancer.

For these reasons, the Department does not currently have plans to support the establishment of Centres of Excellence for each survivable cancer type.