Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her policy is on establishing a national policy for neurogenic bowel cancer; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate care is available for people who need it.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans at present to establish a national policy on neurogenic bowel disorder. To help ensure that patients with neurogenic bowel receive timely and appropriate care, NHS England has developed a range of guidance, including its Excellence in Continence Care guidance. NHS England has also published a service specification for spinal cord injury services, which makes specific reference to bowel care. It outlines that patients with spinal injury should be provided with advice and care by specialist nursing staff in specialist fields, including in the field of bladder and bowel management. In addition, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on faecal incontinence set out the care that patients with neurogenic bowel should receive, including a neurological bowel management programme.
No estimate has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of a lack of specialist bowel care for patients with neurogenic bowel disorders. Nor has an estimate been made of the costs incurred by the diagnosis and treatment of pressure sores, resulting from inadequate care and other secondary complications.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS cancer treatment services have adequate resources to meet increasing demand.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent general practitioner referral and the commencement of treatment for cancer for patients. The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.
Levels of first treatments following an urgent cancer referral have been consistently above pre-pandemic levels, with activity in September 2023 standing at 108% of pre-pandemic levels on a per working day basis.
The Department is also increasing the size of the cancer workforce. As of July 2023, there are currently over 1,600 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 110 or 7.4% more than last year, over 320 or 24.5% more than 2019, and over 640 or 64.9% more than in 2010. This includes over 870 FTE consultants, which represents 35 or 4.2% more than last year, over 120 or 16.6% more than in 2019, and over 390 or 82.1% more than in 2010.
The Major Conditions Strategy will also consider the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of conditions including cancer.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support cancer services and (b) reduce waiting times for access to cancer treatment.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent GP referral and the commencement of treatment for cancer for patients. The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care, and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.
In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.
Additionally, the Government recently published the Major Conditions Strategy Case for Change and Our Strategic Framework on 14 August 2023 which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including for cancer. This is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic-framework
Jan. 19 2009
Source Page: Cancer commissioning guidance. 159 p.Found: Cancer commissioning guidance. 159 p.
Dec. 03 2007
Source Page: Cancer reform strategy. 144 p.Found: Cancer reform strategy. 144 p.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of commissioning and independent review into the impact of cancer treatment on a young person's (a) cognitive function and (b) ability to learn effectively.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cancer is a priority for the Government, and the new Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce has been set up to progress our mission to deliver world-leading cancer services. This work will focus on cancers affecting children and young people, specifically recognising the long-term challenges that cancer and its treatment can have on children and young people.
Over the past five years, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has invested approximately £14 million pounds into 38 research projects on childhood cancers. The James Lind Alliance (JLA), through a Priority Setting Partnership (PSP), facilitates patients, carers, and clinicians in working collaboratively to identify research priorities in particular areas of health and care. The impact of cancer and treatment on the lives of children and families after treatment, and ways to overcome these impacts in the long term, is one of the key priorities identified by the JLA PSP. The NIHR recognises the importance of the research priorities identified by the JLA PSP, and is looking to receive applications for research studies addressing these research priorities.
Furthermore, education and the support to learn effectively are important parts of National Health Service’s specifications for cancer services for children and young people. These specifications require children’s cancer services to take a multi-agency approach to support and address the wider social, educational, psychological, and emotional needs of the child and family. This includes providing ready access to a wide range of services and professionals, encompassing educational support, which includes teachers, health play specialists, speech and language support, and rehabilitative support. These services are vital in ensuring that children and families have the support to face the challenges cancer brings.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available specifically for people with cancer who experience long waits for treatment.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is working with NHS England to reduce waiting times for cancer treatments and to ensure support is available for those that are wating for treatment. The Government and the National Health Service are committed to ensuring that all cancer patients get access to a Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care Interventions. These will ensure care focuses on what matters most to each person, whilst empowering them to self-manage where appropriate and providing a route back into the system if they notice any worrying changes or need to seek help.
NHS England is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support the delivery of priorities in cancer, including working to ensure that every person receives personalised care and support from cancer diagnosis onwards.
The NHS is supporting adults with the NHS Talking Therapies which provides evidence-based mental health services for people with anxiety and depression. The pathway has been identified as a priority to support the integration of mental and physical health services for people with long-term conditions such as cancer.
Mar. 29 2010
Source Page: Reducing cancer inequality: evidence, progress and making it happen. 101 p.Found: Reducing cancer inequality: evidence, progress and making it happen. 101 p.
Jul. 19 2010
Source Page: Guidance on commissioning cancer services: improving outcomes in gynaecological cancers. The manual. Incl. appendices. 85 p.Found: Guidance on commissioning cancer services: improving outcomes in gynaecological cancers.
Dec. 09 2008
Source Page: Cancer Reform Strategy: maintaining momentum, building for the future - first annual report. 67 p.Found: Cancer Reform Strategy: maintaining momentum, building for the future - first annual report. 67 p.