Minimally Invasive Cancer Therapies
Debate between Baroness Blake of Leeds and Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)
The noble Lord raises an important question. New technologies are coming through quickly and the potential is exciting in terms of outcomes and patient experience, with much less time spent in hospital, for example, freeing up beds and time for other treatments. As well as the treatment that the noble Lord mentioned, we are also looking at robotic navigational bronchoscopy, for example, to diagnose lung cancer. Those are just some examples. I reassure him that this work is front and centre of the life sciences plan, and we look forward to the rollout of the plan, together with the cancer plan, linked to the 10-year health programme.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
My Lords, perhaps I may add our comments from the arts and heritage group to the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare. As Aberdare is the town of my father, I have always enjoyed hearing the noble Lord’s name spoken here. Will my noble friend pay tribute to the many members of the public whose generosity to cancer research charities has enabled the sort of work of which we speak to be continued?
Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)
The noble Baroness raises such an important point. Of course, the Government are committed to significant investment in research, but we cannot overestimate the work that so many individuals, companies and charities do in this space. I know that her personal experience is of giving them the support that they need.