Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 the diagnosis (a) rates and (b) treatments for ovarian cancer in (i) England and (ii) Romford constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving the diagnosis rate and treatment for all cancers including for ovarian cancer, is a priority for this Government. The Department is working with NHS England and is taking steps across England to increase diagnosis rates, including setting stretching ambitions, supporting general practitioners (GPs) in referring patients, expanding diagnostic capacity and enabling more precise diagnosis through technology. These steps and actions apply in Romford as across England.
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. NHS England is currently running a ‘Help us Help you’ campaign highlighting the abdominal and urological symptoms of cancer, including ovarian cancer, and addressing the barriers that stop people from accessing services in the NHS.
NHS England introduced the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) which aims to ensure patients have cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days of urgent referral from a GP or screening services with a 75% standard ambition. To achieve the FDS, NHS England has implemented ‘non-specific symptom pathways’ for patients who have symptoms that do not align to a particular type of tumour, including for non-specific symptoms of pancreatic cancer.
Further to this, the Department has committed to £2.3 billion of capital funding to expanding diagnostic capacity across the NHS by rolling out more community diagnostic centres, delivering vital tests, scans and checks, including for ovarian cancer.
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million, including looking at the impact and effectiveness of different kinds of testing and screening and effectiveness of treatment options. The overall goal is to improve diagnosis and treatment to improve patient outcomes.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 raise awareness of ovarian cancer in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Raising awareness and improving early diagnosis of cancers, which includes ovarian cancer, remains a priority across England, including in Romford. NHS England is working towards the NHS Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of stageable cancers at stage 1 and 2 by 2028. Achieving this will mean that, from 2028, around 55,000 more people each year will survive their cancer for at least five years after diagnosis.
To encourage people to get in touch with their general practitioner if they notice or are worried about symptoms that could be cancer, NHS England is running the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign. The campaign has included phases which focus on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer. The National Health Service plans to run further Help Us Help You campaign activity in 2024.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will launch an awareness campaign on abdominal and urological symptoms of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England is currently running a ‘Help us Help you’ campaign highlighting the abdominal and urological symptoms of cancer, including ovarian cancer, and addressing the barriers that stop people from accessing services in the National Health Service.
It encourages the public to contact their general practitioner if they're worried about symptoms, such as “tummy discomfort or diarrhoea that lasts for three weeks or more, or if they've seen blood in their pee even once”.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for (a) screening and (b) treating ovarian cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
There is currently no screening programme for ovarian cancer. The UK National Screening Committee reviewed the evidence for ovarian cancer screening in 2017 and found that screening did not reduce the number of women who died from ovarian cancer, and therefore the Department has no plans to make an assessment on the merits to increase funding for this.
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million, including looking at the impact and effectiveness of different kinds of testing and screening and effectiveness of treatment options. The overall goal is to improve diagnosis and treatment to improve patient outcomes.
To improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, including for ovarian cancer, the Government has committed to funding of £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25. This is supported by £5.9 billion capital funding for new beds, technology and equipment, from which 123 community diagnostic centres and 94 surgical hubs have already been rolled out to support elective activity, including for cancer.
NHS England also funded a series of community engagement events coordinated by a cluster of gynaecological cancer charities, led by Target Ovarian Cancer. These events were held to raise awareness of the importance of seeking help and encouraged people to see their general practitioner if they had symptoms such as stomach discomfort, bloating or pain, as the earlier the cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
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 help reduce the time taken to diagnose ovarian cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including ovarian cancer, remains a priority. We are working towards the NHS Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of stageable cancers at stage 1 and 2 by 2028. The latest published data shows this was 52% between January to December 2020. Achieving this will mean that, from 2028, 55,000 more people each year will survive their cancer for at least five years after diagnosis. The National Health Service is improving pathways to get people diagnosed faster once they are referred and is looking into alternative routes into the system, including non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who do not fit clearly into a single ‘urgent cancer’ referral pathway but who are at risk of being diagnosed with cancer. This will help support faster ovarian cancer diagnosis. 108 NSS pathways are currently operational, with more in development. By March 2024, the NSS programme will achieve full population coverage across England for non-specific symptom pathways as set out in the 2023/24 NHS Planning Guidance.
Reducing variation in cancer services is a strategic priority for the NHS Cancer Programme. The NHS Cancer Programme has commissioned five new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October last year with the first outcomes expected in 2023/24. This includes an audit on ovarian cancer.
To encourage people to get in touch with their general practitioner if they notice or are worried about symptoms that could be cancer, NHS England is running the ‘Help Us, Help You’ (HUHY) campaigns. This included multiple phases of the campaign that had a focus on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer, most recently in November and December 2022. Alongside that phase of the campaign, NHS England funded a series of community engagement events coordinated by a cluster of gynaecological cancer charities, led by Target Ovarian Cancer.
The NHS plans to run further HUHY campaign activity through 2023/24.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help increase awareness of the main symptoms of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including ovarian cancer, remains a priority. We are working towards the NHS Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of stageable cancers at stage 1 and 2 by 2028. The latest published data shows this was 52% between January to December 2020. Achieving this will mean that, from 2028, 55,000 more people each year will survive their cancer for at least five years after diagnosis. The National Health Service is improving pathways to get people diagnosed faster once they are referred and is looking into alternative routes into the system, including non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who do not fit clearly into a single ‘urgent cancer’ referral pathway but who are at risk of being diagnosed with cancer. This will help support faster ovarian cancer diagnosis. 108 NSS pathways are currently operational, with more in development. By March 2024, the NSS programme will achieve full population coverage across England for non-specific symptom pathways as set out in the 2023/24 NHS Planning Guidance.
Reducing variation in cancer services is a strategic priority for the NHS Cancer Programme. The NHS Cancer Programme has commissioned five new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October last year with the first outcomes expected in 2023/24. This includes an audit on ovarian cancer.
To encourage people to get in touch with their general practitioner if they notice or are worried about symptoms that could be cancer, NHS England is running the ‘Help Us, Help You’ (HUHY) campaigns. This included multiple phases of the campaign that had a focus on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer, most recently in November and December 2022. Alongside that phase of the campaign, NHS England funded a series of community engagement events coordinated by a cluster of gynaecological cancer charities, led by Target Ovarian Cancer.
The NHS plans to run further HUHY campaign activity through 2023/24.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England’s National Disease Registration Service, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England.
There were 6,111 diagnoses of ovarian cancer in 2020. This figure is taken from the published national statistics publication, which is available at the following link:
There were 6,527 diagnoses in 2021 and 6,451 diagnoses in 2022. These figures are not yet finalised and are taken from the rapid cancer registration data set, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/covid-19-rcrd-and-treatment-data
Data on the number of people diagnosed with ovarian cancer in England before 2020 is available publicly at the CancerData website.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to increase funding for (a) screening and (b) treating ovarian cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ovarian cancer research.
Currently, there is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer, in part due to the unsuitability of the blood test as a screening tool. No funding has been allocated for screening for ovarian cancer.
However, it is worth noting that the NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million. The NIHR also supports delivery in the health and care system for screening for ovarian cancer research funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors.
The Department is committed to timely access to clinically and cost-effective new cancer drugs on the National Health Service. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraises all new cancer medicines, including for gynaecological cancers. The Cancer Drugs Fund supports patient access to the most promising new cancer medicines while further evidence is collected, including for ovarian cancer.
On ovarian cancer awareness, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 9 May 2023 to Question 183186.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
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 raise awareness of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ovarian cancer research.
Currently, there is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer, in part due to the unsuitability of the blood test as a screening tool. No funding has been allocated for screening for ovarian cancer.
However, it is worth noting that the NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million. The NIHR also supports delivery in the health and care system for screening for ovarian cancer research funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors.
The Department is committed to timely access to clinically and cost-effective new cancer drugs on the National Health Service. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraises all new cancer medicines, including for gynaecological cancers. The Cancer Drugs Fund supports patient access to the most promising new cancer medicines while further evidence is collected, including for ovarian cancer.
On ovarian cancer awareness, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 9 May 2023 to Question 183186.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the availability of the CA125 blood test for the screening of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
We do not currently screen for ovarian cancer, in part due to the unsuitability of the CA125 blood test as a screening tool. CA125 blood testing is not deemed by the UK National Screening Committee to be accurate enough for the purpose of screening. The blood test is offered to those who have symptoms that could be ovarian cancer as a part of routine diagnostics.