Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential use of focal therapies in supporting the NHS to address the cancer treatment backlog.

While focal therapies offer promise, they are not yet recommended for wider adoption and spread across the National Health Service because more evidence is needed. As part of developing their guidance and recommendations, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence seeks input from professionals and patient associations and, through its clinical commissioning policy route, NHS England encourages clinicians working in the NHS in England to submit new policy topics to enable patients to quickly benefit from innovative, evidence-based treatments.