Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support the detection of liver disease in Washington and Sunderland West constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Northern Cancer Alliance (NCA) is supporting services to enable the early detection of liver disease across the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) Integrated Care Board (ICB), including in the Washington and Sunderland West Constituency. The focus of work has been to support liver services across NENC to invite more than 80% of patients with cirrhosis, a type of liver disease, to monthly ultrasound surveillance. For 2024/25, the NCA has invested just over £200,000 into trusts across NENC to help improve their monitoring systems for cirrhosis patients.
The NENC ICB is also enrolled in a Community Liver Health Check pilot in Newcastle, being delivered by the system’s Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks. This will provide FibroScans in one stop community clinics where patients have relevant blood testing, liver ultrasound, and other investigations, as required. The pilot has expanded into North Tyneside and when resources allow, they intend to develop additional clinics across the area.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve research into acute myeloid leukaemia.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is proud to invest £1.3 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was over £121.8 million for 2022/23, and more is spent on cancer than any other disease group.
The Government, through the NIHR, is committed to improving research into the cancers with the poorest survival rates, such as acute myeloid leukaemia, by funding high quality, timely research that leads to improved outcomes for patients and the public, and makes the health and social care system more efficient, effective, and safe. Research evidence is vital for improving treatments and outcomes for people, including those with pancreatic cancer, and other less survivable cancers. The following table shows NIHR research spend on diagnosis, treatment, and diagnosis and treatment of blood cancers, which includes leukaemia, since 2018:
Number of projects | Total awards value | |
Blood cancer diagnosis | 11 | £11,900,000 |
Blood cancer treatment | 14 | £14,700,000 |
Blood cancer diagnosis and treatment | 4 | £7,700,000 |
In 2023, the Government awarded £2 million to new interdisciplinary research teams tackling hard to treat cancers, via the Medical Research Council’s two-day cancer sandpit strategic funding opportunity, focused on technological innovation for understanding cancers with the poorest survival rates.
The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome applications for research into any aspect of human health, including acute myeloid leukaemia. All applications are assessed for funding by peer review committees. The level of research spend in a particular area is driven by factors including the quality of the proposals, and their scientific potential. All applications for research into pancreatic cancer and other less survivable cancers, made through open competition, have been funded.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to increase awareness of acute myeloid leukaemia.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Raising awareness and improving early diagnosis of cancer, including blood related cancers such as acute myeloid leukaemia, remains a priority for the Government. NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of all cancers, and in January 2024, relaunched the Help Us Help You cancer awareness campaign, designed to increase earlier diagnosis of cancer by reducing barriers to seeking help, as well as increasing body awareness, and knowledge of key red flag symptoms. This campaign addresses barriers to people coming forward with suspected signs of all cancers.
This relaunch follows NHS England’s initial launch of the Help Us Help You campaign in April 2020, a major public information campaign to persuade the public to seek urgent care and treatment when they need it. The Help Us Help You strategy is designed to address the underlying barriers to cancer diagnosis, including multifaceted fears, a lack of body awareness, and a lack of knowledge of cancer symptoms, to encourage people to present earlier.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2024 to Question 15636 on Blood Cancer: Drugs, on what date her Department first became aware of challenges presented by the appraisal of combination therapies; and what solutions her Department is considering with NHS England to ensure continued equal access to combination medicines for multiple myeloma across the UK.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) worked closely with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over a number of years on the CMA’s statement on combination therapies, published in November 2023.
The steps taken by the CMA provide a clear commercial position that means that deals involving multiple drugs licensed by different companies can now be agreed under specific circumstances. This has been welcomed by the ABPI as an opportunity to unlock the door to more transformative combination therapies on the National Health Service.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, in each of the past five years, of the economic costs of the effects of post-operative cancer treatments.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working jointly with NHS England and Cancer Alliances to ensure every person receives personalised care and support from cancer diagnosis onwards, including post-treatment. As outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan for cancer, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including needs assessment, a care plan and health and wellbeing information and support. After treatment, the person will move to a follow-up pathway that suits their needs, and ensures they can get rapid access to clinical support, where they are worried that their cancer may have recurred.
Post-operative cancer treatments encompass a wide variety of care, depending on the type and stage of cancer, the treatment the patient has had, and the patient’s needs. Follow-up care often includes regular check-ups, blood tests, scans, and procedures. It may also involve further treatments to deal with late and long-term side effects, including chemotherapy or radiotherapy to reduce the risk of cancer coming back. These highly individualised treatments have varying economic costs.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to shorten the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer by allowing the CA125 blood test and ultrasound to be undertaken at the same time.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is supporting NHS England in developing Best Practice Timed pathways, to support the ongoing improvement effort to shorten diagnosis pathways, reduce variation, improve patient experience of care, and meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard. This standard ensures patients are told they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out, within 28 days of urgent cancer referral from general practice or screening service.
In March 2023, NHS England published guidance for local health and care systems to implement a timed gynaecological cancer diagnostic pathway, including for ovarian cancer. The gynaecological pathway ensures that at day zero, when presenting with symptoms, an ultrasound and a minimum data set is obtained, which includes a full blood count. For patients with suspected ovarian cancer, the minimum dataset should also include tumour marker CA125, with confirmation of suspicious features of ovarian cancer on ultrasound.
The guidance further ensures that patients with persistent abdominal symptoms, raised CA125, and a normal pelvic scan should be referred through the non-specific symptoms rapid diagnostic centre pathway. Women over 50 years old with elevated CA125 and palpable mass or ascites, or both, or with a previous ultrasound with risk of malignancy, should be referred straight to a computed tomography scan.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her expected timescale is for the availability of the Galleri blood test in cancer testing and diagnosis across the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS-Galleri trial is looking into the use of a new blood test to see if it can help the National Health Service to detect cancer early, when used alongside existing cancer screening. The trial recruited the target of 140,000 participants, and interim results are expected in spring or summer 2024.
If the trial is successful, the NHS has committed to rolling out up to one million Galleri tests in 2024 and 2025, as part of an interim implementation pilot. The clinical trial is currently planned to conclude in 2025, with results expected in 2026.
Should the final results be positive, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) may consider the use of the test in a national screening programme. A UK NSC-recommended national screening programme would need to consider the effectiveness of the test, balancing the risk of false positives and unnecessary invasive treatments, against potential early detection.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long her Department has been aware of issues associated with health technology appraisal of combination medicines for blood cancers; and whether her Department is giving additional resources to (a) NICE and (b) NHS England to tackle those issues.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a statement in November 2023 that clarifies the circumstances under which it will not prioritise enforcement action against drug firms when they implement a specific negotiation framework, to make more combination therapies available on the National Health Service. The statement is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/combination-therapies-prioritisation-statement
In the 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth, NHS England committed to launching a consultation on updating the NHS England Commercial Framework for New Medicines, by July of this year. This consultation will reflect the CMA’s statement, and will be used to consider options for transacting a solution for some combination therapies, under specific circumstances.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also gave specific consideration to the evaluation of combination therapies in the comprehensive review of its methods and processes for health technology evaluation, that concluded in January 2022. The NICE’s published health technology evaluation manual describes the considerations that will be given to the evaluation of combination therapies where relevant.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve pancreatic cancer outcomes in York Central constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Working with NHS England, we are delivering a range of interventions that are expected to increase early diagnosis and improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer across England, including the York Central constituency. This includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer and diagnose cancers sooner; creating new pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types; and increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests.
To increase early diagnosis, NHS England is implementing non-symptom specific pathways (NSS) for patients who present with non-specific symptoms, or combinations of non-specific symptoms, to receive the right tests at the right time. There are currently 113 NSS pathways live with the aim to have full national coverage by March 2024.
NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer, the aim of which is to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022 and a scoping exercise in consultation with key stakeholders has taken place to shape the direction of the audit. The first report is expected in October 2024.
In addition, the Getting It Right First Time team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight actions National Health Service providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.
To encourage people to see their general practitioner if they notice symptoms that could be cancer, NHS England runs the Help Us, Help You campaigns, which address the barriers that deter patients from accessing the National Health Service. In addition, the NHS has allocated £10 million to trial innovations that may support earlier and more efficient diagnosis, including a trial for the PinPoint blood test and a new genetic test that may be used as a liquid biopsy for those with suspected pancreatic cancer.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to help ensure adequacy of funding for cancer research over the next ten years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23 and the NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group.
In terms of future funding, the NIHR funds research both in response to proposals received from scientists and by identifying areas, like brain cancer, where we want to see more research. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. All research applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition.
Future investment in research and innovation is a priority for the Government. We know developments in areas including genomics and artificial intelligence have the potential to transform the experience of cancer, informed by research. The United Kingdom, with its extensive experience of delivering innovative cancer trials, is well placed to integrate research and treatment for the benefit of cancer patients. Innovative trials such as the Galleri blood test and cancer vaccines are already ongoing, and we are investing in crucial research into new treatments, diagnostics, and medical technologies through the NIHR and research funding partners to transform the future of cancer.