Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen McPartland and Anna Soubry

Tuesday 11th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Stephen McPartland (Stevenage) (Con)]

6. What progress he has made on improving cancer waiting times and diagnosis.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anna Soubry)]

Cancer waiting time standards set out a maximum two-month wait from urgent GP referral for suspected cancer, through to diagnosis, to the first definitive treatment. Quarterly performance in the past 12 months has consistently exceeded the performance measure of 85%; indeed, the current data show that 86.3% of patients were treated within this time frame.

[Stephen McPartland]

I am a firm believer in bringing cancer care closer to people’s homes. My constituents have to travel thousands of miles during the course of their radiotherapy treatments. Will the Minister support my campaign for a satellite radiotherapy unit to be based at Lister hospital in Stevenage?

[Anna Soubry]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s campaign, which he has been running for some time, and to all the great work that he does for Lister hospital. I am slightly worried that if I give him any support it might be the kiss of death for his campaign, but I wish him all the very best and all power to his elbow.