Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Burns and John Baron

Tuesday 25th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

I think that the right hon. Gentleman either did not hear my earlier remarks or had penned his question prior to hearing them. What I said was that waiting times are important to patients—and if he looks at the record tomorrow, he will see that. May I also explain to him that the average median time for the latest month available—November—shows patients completing a referral to treatment pathway in about 8.3 weeks? The right hon. Gentleman’s comments on A and E are just factually wrong and somewhat cheap.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

There are concerns that some of the expertise of cancer networks might be lost because of the funding gap between the end of the Government’s funding for the networks and the transition to full GP commissioning. Will the Government consider bridging this gap, at least until GP consortia are fully up and running—and therefore better able to make informed decisions about the commissioning of cancer network services?

[Mr Burns]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend in view of the considerable interest he takes and work he does in this field of health care. Let me reassure him that we have guaranteed the funding for next year, so it can work itself out to a successful conclusion thereafter through the cancer networks in the commissioning plans.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Burns and John Baron

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We have to supply all patients, including those suffering from diabetes as well as other conditions, with as much information that they can understand as possible, so that they can make the choices about the health care they need. They also need to be backed up with advice from their GPs, community pharmacists and others in the health sector, because that will empower them to take decisions in their best interests to manage their medical condition.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

The Government have rightly announced, in the consultation document on patient choice, that all patients with long-term conditions will be offered a care plan. May I urge the Minister to ensure that that will apply also to cancer patients?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Burns and John Baron

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

I say in the politest way possible to the hon. Lady that we cannot abandon a target that has never been imposed in the first place. May I remind her that, as a sop to the Labour party conference more than a year ago, the former Prime Minister merely announced an aspiration? He never provided any funding or said where the funding should go, and he never provided any clinical evidence for the viability of the proposal. Saying that the Government have abandoned a target when it never existed is sheer poppycock.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

The all-party cancer group’s report last year found that those with rarer cancers got a bit of a raw deal from the NHS when it came to access to treatment and drugs. How will the new cancer fund put right that wrong?

[Mr Burns]

I am sure that my hon. Friend, through the tremendous work done by him and his colleagues on the all-party group, will appreciate that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s initiative—providing £50 million for the rest of this year and £200 million from next year for the cancer fund—is an important step forward in helping those who suffer from cancer. I am sure that my hon. Friend will also welcome the fact that work is ongoing on refining, following the review, the cancer reform strategy, and we are looking at the scope for improving survival rates by the increased use of diagnostic tests and at improving care across the board, so that we raise our standards to the highest in Europe rather than being the poor relation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Burns and John Baron

Tuesday 7th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

May I reassure the right hon. Gentleman that we will shortly consult on the cancer drugs fund. On the question of Afinitor, in which I know he has a particular interest, I appreciate that there has been some concern expressed by families and patients about the issuing of the interim guidance. I would like to emphasise that the guidance is only interim, that the appraisal is ongoing and that we await the final guidance from NICE. I hope that he will be reassured that, since the publication of the draft guidance, the manufacturer of Afinitor has proposed a revised patient access scheme for the drug, which is now being considered as part of the NICE appraisal. In the light of that, we will have to await the announcement of the final decision.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

13. What recent representations he has received on the proposed one-year cancer survival measure.