Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to genomic and biomarker testing so that patients can benefit from precision medicine.

The NHS Genomic Medicine Service (NHS GMS) works through a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs), providing testing for all eligible patients across the whole of England, based on referrals by defined healthcare professionals who confirm the patient meets the Test Directory eligibility criteria.

The NHS GMS also works with industry, academia, and other partners, including through NHS Genomic Networks of Excellence, to generate evidence and models of adoption for genomic innovations in specific priority areas, such as cancer, pharmacogenomics, and rare and infectious diseases. This helps to inform commissioning decisions, accelerate adoption, and ensure equity of access to genomic testing across England. Additionally, the NHS GMS is rolling out a Unified Genomic Record to integrate patient genomic data with relevant clinical and diagnostic data, shorten genomic testing turnaround times, and work with industry to align testing with clinical trials targets and precision medicine access.

Pathology services are commissioned by integrated care boards to reflect local population need and are delivered through England’s 27 pathology networks, which collectively undertake more than 1.4 billion tests and investigations each year. The networks are well placed to support the adoption and spread of innovation, such as precision medicine, enabling new diagnostic technologies and approaches to be implemented at scale while improving consistency, resilience and patient access. Non-genomic biomarker testing sits within this much broader diagnostic service.