Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has plans to deliver a national awareness campaign on breast cancer screening.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently exploring opportunities for national campaigns to support positive outcomes on women’s health. Work is underway to scope the feasibility of running a national campaign to support breast screening uptake, and this will be informed by pilot activity due to run in London in 2024/25.
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the Government's major conditions strategy with specific reference to breast cancer; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the development of the Major Conditions Strategy, we are considering how we improve outcomes for people in this country living with multiple conditions. Aligning work across several groups of conditions including cancer for this strategy, will allow us to focus on where there are similarities in approach and ensure care is better centred around the patient, maximising existing resources both within patient pathways and in integrating between pathways.
Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for the Government. The National Health Service has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live for longer. We know that breast cancer remains the most common cancer in England, with over 49,000 people being diagnosed each year. Thanks to advances in screening, treatment, and care, alongside NHS awareness campaigns, more women are surviving the disease than ever before.
The NHS Cancer Programme has also commissioned five new cancer clinical audits, including primary and metastatic breast cancers. These will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, will increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for which the NHS missed its target of 70% of invited women to be screened for breast cancer in 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving uptake in the NHS Breast Screening Programme. NHS England has commissioned evaluative projects to look at ways to improve uptake, and to understand why women may not attend breast screening. These include: actively following up with women who have missed an appointment or not engaged with the service; looking at the reasons why women do not attend screenings, to address any barriers; and assessing the impact on screening uptake using different invitation methodologies with reference to factors such as age, previous screening history, including attendance at first invitation and subsequent invites, and deprivation. These projects are expected to report by April 2024.
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
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 increase the uptake of breast cancer screening in (a) England and (b) Norwich.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has invested £10 million of funding for the breast screening programme, which provided 28 new breast screening units and nearly 60 upgrades, to be targeted at areas with the greatest challenges of uptake and coverage. NHS England has developed a national plan in collaboration with key stakeholders, to improve uptake within the breast screening programme.
In the East of England, NHS England will work with the Breast Screening Service and the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board to undertake a gap analysis and prioritise actions, and to look at options to increase its resilience by working with other local providers as a network.