Asked by: Paulette Hamilton (Labour - Birmingham Erdington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the fresh freezing and storage of brain tumour tissue, including data collected through NHS England’s gap analysis of freezer capacity; and if he will provide the most recent available data by NHS trust on the (a) availability of suitable freezer capacity and (b) proportion of brain tumour patients whose tissue is routinely fresh-frozen and stored following surgery.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
NHS England has completed a gap analysis of the need for freezer capacity and is looking at how to support services to provide an equitable expansion of that capacity.
The Department and NHS England will work with professional bodies, including the Royal College of Pathologists, to review tissue retention guidance and consent processes.
The Department is looking at ways to support trusts to expand freezer capacity, and will provide an update on this in the autumn.
There are no plans to publish the full gap analysis. The data is management information which is not routinely published.