Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to improve outcomes for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

We will get the National Health Service catching cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier, and treating it faster so more patients survive this horrible set of diseases, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system, including for pancreatic cancer.

For pancreatic cancer specifically, NHS England is providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk, to identify lesions before they develop into cancer. NHS England is additionally creating pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms, and is increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests.

NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer, aiming to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.

On 12 September 2024 the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre published their State of the Nation Report on Pancreatic Cancer, and the NHS cancer programme is currently considering how to take forward the initial recommendations of that audit.