Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that general practitioners receive (a) training on (i) early symptoms and (ii) risk factors of mouth cancer and (b) update National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines to allow direct referral to secondary care.

We know that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for patients with mouth cancer. That is why we are investing an additional £889 million in general practices (GPs), bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This will help to ensure we have a well-trained and well-equipped primary care service that can take the time to provide quality care to patients around the country, including those with mouth cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for making decisions on whether its guidance should be updated in the light of new evidence.

NICE guidelines represent best practice and healthcare professionals are expected to take them fully into account in making decisions on the care and treatment of individual patients. NICE currently has no plans to update the guideline that covers the assessment and management of mouth cancer. It will be reviewed if there is new evidence that is likely to change the recommendations.