Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the review by the York Health Economics Consortium, Review of the Economic Model Used to Inform National Decisions on Prostate Cancer Screening in the UK, published on 19 February, whether they plan to (1) respond to the concerns raised about the model, (2) commission an independent review of the model and (3) set out how any resulting recommendations would be implemented.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 17 March 2026 to Question HL14999, which for ease of reference, is reproduced below, and to the Written Statement HLWS82 made on 2 June 2026.

The Government has made it clear that it would like to see screening in place for prostate cancer where it is supported by the evidence.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) consulted on their draft recommendation regarding prostate cancer screening which was based on a model commissioned from Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR). SCHARR included expert economists and clinicians in workshops throughout the model’s development. The UK NSC ran a series of workshops with economists, academics, and clinicians to examine the model’s structure, evidence, assumptions, and conclusions. It also ran a 12-week public consultation on their draft recommendation and evidence package. Upon request, York Health Economics Consortium were given access to the underpinning model and York, as well as Prostate Cancer Research who funded York’s work, have submitted findings to the consultation. Updates have been made on the basis of comments which have been shared with experts. These findings will be considered alongside the other submissions to the consultation before UK NSC make a final recommendation based on the current evidence base.

The model will be maintained and interrogated as new evidence becomes available. The UK NSC is committed to keeping prostate cancer screening under review.