Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth George Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Absolutely central to this is ensuring that we address cancer at the earliest possible opportunity. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the greater is the likelihood of survival, so we want to see more cancers diagnosed earlier across the board.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

22. At the start of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, my local hospital, Stepping Hill, had to shut its doors to breast care patients in my constituency, because its two-week urgent waiting times had risen to five weeks owing to chronic staff shortages and underfunding. What will the Secretary of State do to improve outcomes for constituents like mine who cannot access those services?

[Matt Hancock]

The announcement the details of which I have just set out comes with £1.6 billion of the £20 billion uplift we are putting into the NHS written into the long-term plan, so the funding is there to deliver on this policy, too.