To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment for young people with cancer.
Answered on
23 February 2024
Reducing waiting times for the diagnosis and treatment for young people with cancer is a priority for the Government. On 6 February 2024 the Department announced the setup of a new Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to progress our mission to deliver world-leading cancer services. This dedicated work, focusing on cancers affecting children and young people, will explore detection, diagnosis and genomic testing and treatment, as well as research and innovation.
Several organisations across England, including the Department, are taking steps to increase diagnosis rates. This includes setting stretching ambitions, supporting general practices (GPs) in referring patients, expanding diagnostic capacity, and enabling more precise diagnosis through technology.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance underpinning cancer referrals sets out detailed guidance for GPs on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending very urgent referral, an appointment within 48 hours, for those presenting with a range of potential cancer.
Backed by £2.3 billion of capital funding, the Department is expanding diagnostic capacity across the National Health Service by rolling out more community diagnostic centres (CDCs), delivering vital tests, scans and checks. With 153 CDCs open already and up to 160 set to open by March 2025, these offer millions of patients the chance to access quicker, more convenient checks outside of hospitals, with capacity prioritised for cancer.
In addition, the NHS now offers all children and young people with cancer whole genome sequencing, to enable more comprehensive and precise diagnosis, and access to more personalised treatments.
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.