Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure equal access to advanced cancer diagnostic tools for patients across all regions of the UK.

Health is a devolved matter. The Government is supporting NHS England in ensuring patients have equal access to cancer diagnostic tools across England.

The Department of Health and Social Care is carrying out work to assess the barriers of effective adoption and improve the way artificial intelligence (AI) and diagnostic tools are deployed across the NHS in England. This is alongside the AI Diagnostic Fund, a £21 million fund allocated to 11 imaging networks, covering 64 trusts (49% of total) across all regions in England, to support the deployment of AI diagnostic tools to assist NHS staff to diagnose conditions such as cancer faster.

The NHS Cancer Programme’s Innovation Open Call is held to identify and support the most promising innovations and has funded cancer diagnostic innovations in areas including medical devices, in vitro diagnostics, digital health solutions, behaviour interventions, artificial intelligence, robotics, and new models of care.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to latest tools and technology.