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 support the implementation of innovative (a) diagnostic tools and (b) tests to help improve the speed of diagnosis of less survivable cancers.

The Department is carrying out work to assess the barriers of effective adoption and to improve the way diagnostic tools, including those using artificial intelligence (AI), are deployed across the National Health Service in England.

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.

There are also initiatives to improve the identification of cancer symptoms, including for less survivable cancers, in primary care. This includes Jess’s Rule, which supports clinicians to rethink their assessments when patients have presented three times with the same symptoms or concerns. Jess’s Rule was developed through a process of engagement with leading clinicians and charities.

The Department has been working with members of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce as part of the development of the National Cancer Plan to identify how to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for less survivable cancers, which includes lung, pancreatic, liver, brain, oesophageal, and stomach cancer.