Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people waiting for cancer screening tests following delays as a result of the covid-19 lockdown.

We have interpreted the hon. Member’s question to refer to people awaiting tests after an initial screen, as opposed to the number of people waiting for screening invitations. This data is unavailable.

Although some appointments for cancer screening have been rescheduled during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect vulnerable patients, NHS England and NHS Improvement have taken a robust approach to ensuring that people at highest risk are seen as a matter of priority. Week by week, we have seen the number of people in these screening pathways reducing. At the same time, there is a continued focus on sending out invites for routine screening that were previously delayed.