Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent research conducted by Imperial College London entitled Mortality from leading cancers in districts of England from 2002 to 2019: a population-based, spatiotemporal study, published in The Lancet Oncology on 11 December, which found that the risk of dying from cancer in poorer areas of England is more than 70 per cent higher than in wealthier areas; and what is the comparison between England and Northern Ireland.

Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer waiting times and treatment is a priority for the Government. Increasing early cancer diagnosis is a key contributor to reducing cancer health inequalities and is one of the five clinical areas of focus in NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 approach to reducing health inequalities. Efforts are focused on diagnosing 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028 as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

To support this, NHS England introduced the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) which sets a target of maximum 28 day wait from urgent suspected general practitioner or screening referral to patients being told they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out. The FDS also intends to reduce unwarranted variation in England by understanding how long it is taking people to receive a diagnosis or ‘all clear’ for cancer.

On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy to consider the six conditions, including cancer, that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England, including cancer.  The Major Conditions Strategy will apply a geographical lens to each condition to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030.

As health is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, the Government has not made any comparison between Northern Ireland and England.