Oral Answers to Questions

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

The cancer plan will reflect the three shifts in the 10-year plan, including from hospital to community. Macmillan, Cancer Research UK and Cancer52 all sit on the steering board for the cancer plan, and I meet them regularly. Last week, we announced the Diagnostic Connect partnership with the third sector, linking patients with third sector services on diagnosis. The cancer plan will cover this for the whole of England and build on the commitments in the 10-year plan.

[Bambos Charalambous (Southgate and Wood Green) (Lab)]

T5.   The most recent figures for the three NHS cancer waiting time targets for diagnosis, referral and treatment showed that those targets were missed. Longer waiting times can have a serious adverse effect on cancer patients, so can the Minister confirm whether those targets will be given a high priority in the national cancer plan when it is published?

[Ashley Dalton]

The national cancer plan for England will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare, as well as prevention and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, including establishing targets for delivery right through the cancer pathway.