Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the backlog of treatments for cancer patients; and what steps his Department is taking to resume cancer treatments at levels before the covid-19 outbreak.

Data on the number patients waiting longer than 62 days from an urgent general practitioner referral for suspected cancer between March 2020 and August 2020 and available via the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/supplementary-information/

NHS England and NHS Improvement’s priorities for recovering cancer services are increasing urgent cancer referrals, reducing the number of patients waiting longer than 62 and 104 days for treatments or diagnostics, and ensuring capacity is in place for patients returning to the system in winter. The newly formed Cancer Recovery Taskforce will oversee the development of the cancer recovery plan and review progress against objectives, including considering any impact of a second wave of COVID-19.