Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77757 on Multiple Myeloma: Diagnosis, when the NHS will fully implement non-specific symptom pathways for the purpose of earlier diagnosis of blood cancers.

We recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that every patient receives fast and early diagnosis, including patients with harder to stage cancers, such as myeloma.

The National Health Service has fully implemented non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. There are currently 115 NSS services operating in England with blood cancers being one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

Diagnosing cancer earlier is a key focus of the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which will build on the shifts in care set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to diagnose cancers earlier.