To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the £3 billion funding allocated to support the NHS recovery from the effect of covid-19 at the Spending Review 2020 will be invested in (a) cancer diagnostics, (b) radiotherapy treatments and (c) the cancer workforce.
Answered on
22 March 2021
The Spending Review 2020 confirmed an additional £3 billion for the National Health Service on top of the long-term settlement, to support the recovery from the impact of COVID-19. This includes approximately £1 billion to begin tackling the elective backlog and approximately £1.5 billion to help ease existing pressures caused by COVID-19. This package will be supported by £325 million capital funding for NHS diagnostics to replace over two thirds of imaging equipment over 10 years old.
The Spending Review 2020 will also provide £260 million to continue to increase the NHS workforce and support commitments made in the NHS Long Term Plan. Full details on funding allocations in 2021-22, including for NHS cancer workforce and cancer diagnostics, will be subject to a detailed financial planning exercise and finalised in due course.