Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure an equitable provision of radiotherapy treatment.

The Department remains committed to ensuring that all patients have timely access to cutting-edge cancer treatments, including radiotherapy. This commitment has been demonstrated by a £70 million investment into 28 new LINAC radiotherapy machines, which are currently being rolled out and replacing outdated, inefficient radiotherapy equipment. These new machines will reduce waiting times and increase treatment capacity by 15%, enabling an additional 27,500 patients to be treated each year.

We expect that local systems will continue to look for opportunities to streamline radiotherapy treatment services, improve treatment availability, and harness artificial intelligence technology to support oncologists to plan radiotherapy treatments faster and more accurately.