Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department is taking to reduce treatment waiting times for people with prostate cancer in the South East.

The Government understands that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for all patients with prostate cancer, including in the South East.

NHS England has introduced a best-practice timed pathway for prostate cancer so that those suspected of prostate cancer receive a multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging scan first, which ensures that only those men most at risk of having cancer undergo an invasive biopsy. The AI in Health and Care Award has also been established, which aims to accelerate the testing and development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. £113 million has already been allocated to support 86 AI technologies, and three of these projects specifically relate to prostate cancer, one of which is the Paige prostate cancer detection tool, developed by the University of Oxford.

The Department will publish a National Cancer Plan which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients across England, including the South East, speed up diagnosis and treatment, and ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.