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 maintain the standard of treatment for secondary breast cancer during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Cancer Recovery Taskforce has been established, and met for the first time in September, where they took stock of the status of cancer services against recovery metrics on referrals, treatment and backlog levels. A national recovery plan will be developed for publication shortly.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing to operate cancer surgical hubs, supported by the extension of the independent sector deal, to maintain a whole-system approach to managing cancer surgery at volume and in accordance with clinical priority.