Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the publication of Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View, published on 6 April 2017, what plans his Department has to align the work of the (a) sustainability and transformation plans, (b) sustainability and transformation partnerships, (c) cancer alliances and (d) forthcoming accountable care systems in the strategy on and delivery of cancer services.

Sustainability and Transformation Plans, Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships, and the forthcoming Accountable Care Systems are not separate entities. They are part of the same process, each evolving into the next, and are therefore aligned on that basis.

In October 2014, NHS England published the ‘Five Year Forward View’, which set out how the National Health Service would adapt to improve cancer care by 2020/21. This led to the creation of Cancer Alliances, which provide a focus for improvement and leadership on cancer care locally. This focus is then incorporated into the wider context of the sustainability and transformation partnerships and plans (STP) for each area, with the intention of developing partnerships and integrating services to improve patient outcomes across their geographical footprint.

The recently published ‘Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View’ stipulated that STPs will now begin the process of evolving into accountable care systems, providing better aligned and coordinated care that meets the needs of the local population.

The NHS currently has the highest cancer survival rates ever. There are an estimated 7,000 more people surviving cancer annually after successful NHS cancer treatment, compared to when the Five Year Forward View was published. Each of the 44 STP areas, and the organisations that make up each STP, including Cancer Alliances, have contributed to this achievement, and the forthcoming Accountable Care Systems will build on this.