Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that children diagnosed with cancer in (a) Slough and (b) England are able to access treatment throughout the covid-19 outbreak.

To ensure essential and urgent treatment for all cancer patients, including children, continued throughout the response to the pandemic, COVID-19-protected surgical hubs have been established for cancer surgery across the country to keep often vulnerable cancer patients safe. This particularly protects cancer patients from immunocompromised infection. All 21 Cancer Alliances across England now have arrangements in place for cancer hubs.

The Cancer Recovery Taskforce is overseeing the development of the cancer recovery plan and reviewing progress against objectives including considering any impact of a second wave of COVID-19. The plan will be published shortly.