Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a national screening programme for pancreatic cancer.

In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening and which supports implementation.

The UK NSC received a submission via its 2024 annual call process to consider a new screening programme for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. The UK NSC decided to explore this proposal further, and the next step will be an evidence mapping process. Further information on the annual call process can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal/uk-nsc-annual-call-how-to-submit-a-proposal