Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average travel distance for cancer patients from South Cumbria and North Lancashire required to attend Royal Preston Hospital for radiotherapy.

NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring healthcare needs of local communities in England are met. For the Royal Preston Hospital, this is the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.

The National Health Service in England runs schemes to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. The NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme provides financial assistance to patients who do not have a medical need for transport, but who require assistance with the costs of travelling to receive certain NHS services.

The Department has not made any assessment of average travel distances in the South Cumbria and North Lancashire area.