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, if she will make an estimate of the number of people that have been (a) diagnosed with and (b) treated for bladder cancer in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst the Department will not make a specific estimate, the following link shows the number of diagnoses of bladder cancer in England for 2019 and 2020, the most recent years for which NHS Digital holds publicly available data:
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the findings of the first quarterly report of the National Audit of Metastatic Breast Cancer, published on 10 April, what steps they are taking to address gaps in data collection for secondary breast cancer patients.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
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 automatically notifying women with neurofibromatosis type 1 before their 40th birthday that they are eligible to attend breast cancer screening from the age of 40 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently women with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) who are considered at moderate or high risk of breast cancer, can be referred through clinical professionals such as specialists in genetics or oncology for annual breast screening which is managed at a local level.
An assessment has not made of the potential merits of automatically notifying women with NF1 before they are 40 years old that they are eligible to attend breast cancer screening from the age of 40 years.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken with NHS England to help raise awareness by (a) patients and (b) GPs of the increased risk of breast cancer in people with neurofibromatosis type 1.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department works with NHS England to raise awareness of cancers, including for people with increased risk of cancer. In January 2024, NHS England relaunched the Help Us Help You cancer awareness campaign, designed to increase earlier diagnosis by encouraging people to come forward with suspected signs of cancers.
For individuals with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), who are at increased risk of breast cancer, the National Health Service in England recommends breast screening from the age of 40 years old. It is important that awareness of this is widespread among patients and general practices (GPs). Treatment for NF1 involves regular monitoring, and if a patient develops complex problems, their GP can usually refer them to one of two specialist NHS centres, so that a treatment plan can be drawn up. These centres are at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London, and at Manchester University Hospital.
We expect clinicians to keep themselves appraised of developments within conditions, and to refer to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance as part of their clinical decision-making process.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with (a) the National Institute for Health Research and (b) other NHS funding streams on the potential merits of increasing the level of funding made available to the South Asian Biobank to help monitor (i) disease diagnoses and (ii) health outcomes from that project among people from South Asian backgrounds.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The South Asian Biobank, originally funded by the Wellcome Trust, is an international research study designed to prevent the high risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer among South Asian people. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research via a range of programmes, with eligibility criteria to support applicants to decide where to apply. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. The NIHR has provided funding for research projects associated with the South Asian Biobank through open competition, and welcomes any future applications. In addition, the NIHR provides funding to NIHR research infrastructure through open competition. The NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and the Clinical Research Network have provided support for the South Asian Biobank.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
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 increasing the level of funding allocated to the South Asian Biobank.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The South Asian Biobank, originally funded by the Wellcome Trust, is an international research study designed to prevent the high risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer among South Asian people. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research via a range of programmes, with eligibility criteria to support applicants to decide where to apply. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. The NIHR has provided funding for research projects associated with the South Asian Biobank through open competition, and welcomes any future applications. In addition, the NIHR provides funding to NIHR research infrastructure through open competition. The NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and the Clinical Research Network have provided support for the South Asian Biobank.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve (a) research into treatments for and (b) (i) emotional and (ii) financial support for people living with pancreatic cancer.
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 £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 £121.8 million in 2022/23, and the NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group.
The NIHR funded nine research projects on pancreatic cancer since 2018/19, with a committed funding value of £4.3 million. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including pancreatic cancer. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition.
The NIHR also supports delivery of research into pancreatic cancer in the health and care system, funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors. Since 2018/19 the NIHR supported 73 clinical research studies through the Clinical Research Network.
Additionally, NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRC) and NIHR Clinical Research Facilities spent a further £6.5 million between 2018/19 and 2022/23, supporting an annual portfolio of approximately 85 early clinical studies into pancreatic cancer. NIHR BRCs are collaborations between world-leading universities and National Health Service organisations, that bring together academics and clinicians to translate discoveries from basic or discovery science into clinical research.
For emotional and financial support, patient feedback is monitored through the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, with the latest results showing an overall experience of 8.88 out of 10. In areas such as support for health and wellbeing, and information on financial help, results were positive but showed room for improvement. NHS England continues to support trusts to take action to improve cancer patient support.
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, how many complaints NHS England have received relating to the adequacy of bowel care provided to people with neurogenic bowel disorders in the last 12 months; and what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that patients receive (a) timely and (b) appropriate care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has not received any direct complaints relating to the adequacy of bowel care provided to people with neurogenic bowel disorders resulting from a spinal cord injury in the last 12 months. Complaints about clinical care should be directed to the hospital providing the care, which would be able to conduct the necessarily investigations.
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.
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 many women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer by age in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following link shows the numbers of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer by age in England, each year between 2019 and 2021, the most recent year for which we have data:
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for developing a best practice timed pathway for leukaemia.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has implemented non symptom specific pathways (NSS) for patients who present with non-specific symptoms or combinations thereof that can indicate several different cancers. This includes leukaemia, which can present non-specific symptoms, such as unexpected weight loss and night sweats. As of December 2023, there are 113 NSS pathways already live, an increase from 12 live Rapid Diagnostic Centre pathways in March 2020, with over 5,500 patients seen per month and a total of over 100,000 referrals since May 2020.
Raising awareness, delivering more research, and improving early diagnosis of cancers, which includes blood related cancers such as leukaemia, are crucial for improving survival rates and are key priorities for the Government.
NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of all cancers, including leukaemia, to improve early diagnosis. In January 2024, NHS England relaunched their ‘Help Us Help You’ cancer awareness campaign, designed to increase earlier diagnosis of cancer by encouraging people to come forward with suspected signs of cancers. The campaign aims to reduce barriers to seeking earlier help, as well as to increase body awareness and knowledge of key red flag symptoms. This relaunch follows NHS England’s launch of their original ‘Help Us Help You’ campaigns in April 2020, a major public information campaign to persuade the public to seek urgent care and treatment when they needed it.
Delivering more research is key to understanding the causes of cancers and increasing survival rates of all cancers, including leukaemia, further. That is why investment in research and innovation is a priority for the Government. Our world-leading scientists and clinicians are driving the discovery, development, and testing of new treatments. The Department invested almost £122 million into cancer research in 2022/23 via the National Institute for Health and Care Research. In addition, alongside Cancer Research UK, health departments across the United Kingdom are jointly funding a network of Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs), collectively investing more than £35 million between 2017 and 2022. The network of 17 adult and 12 paediatric ECMCs enhances the existing bench-to-bedside pathway by supporting the most promising innovations from the academic and industry sectors into the cancer medicines of tomorrow.
More broadly, the National Health Service is working towards its Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of stageable cancers at stage 1 and 2 by 2028. Achieving this will mean that an additional 55,000 people each year will survive their cancer for at least five years after diagnosis. To support early diagnosis, the Government has invested £2.3 billion into community diagnostic centres across England which are speeding up diagnosis for cancer, with checks and scans being delivered at 160 sites across England. Cancer is also one of six major conditions included in our upcoming Major Conditions Strategy.
With progress made on reducing waiting times, cancer is being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often, with survival rates improving across almost all types of cancer.