Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to HCWS1271 on Improving Cancer Care and Early Diagnosis, which early cancer detection technologies NICE is currently assessing; what timelines apply to NICE's decisions to approve those technologies; whether funding has been allocated to adoption of approved early cancer detection technologies; what steps he is taking to help ensure that there is equitable access to early cancer detection technologies across the regions; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that innovation in early cancer detection technologies does not widen health inequalities.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently assessing a number of technologies relevant to earlier cancer detection. These include capsule sponge tests to support detection of oesophageal cancer in primary care settings, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist clinicians in identifying prostate and breast cancers from imaging. NICE is also considering potential evaluations, subject to evidence readiness and prioritisation, for technologies aimed at improving detection of endometrial cancer, and for AI-derived software to analyse chest x-rays for suspected lung cancer.

Timelines vary depending on the NICE programme through which a technology is assessed. For technologies evaluated through the Technology Appraisal programme, a positive recommendation creates a statutory funding requirement for National Health Service commissioners to make the treatment available within 90 days of final guidance publication.

NHS England is working closely with NICE and the Department to support the prioritisation for the Technology Appraisal programme. Should NICE recommend use after a Technology Appraisal, NHS England will support adoption and implementation through funding allocated across the multi-year Spending Review.

The Government is clear that innovation must narrow, not widen, health inequalities. Access to NICE-recommended technologies is a national entitlement, and where the statutory funding requirement applies it operates consistently across England, regardless of geography or care setting. NICE’s methods require consideration of equality impacts, and implementation support is designed to ensure that new detection technologies reach underserved groups and do not exacerbate existing disparities.

More broadly, the Government is taking a range of steps to ensure equitable access to earlier diagnosis. Our National Cancer Plan will drive up standards across England and tackle health inequalities head on. New cancer manuals will set out what good care looks like, with regional partnerships of health leaders and clinicians using data to drive improvements where services are falling short. The plan will also see new national standards, designed by clinicians, and better data, to inform and drive changes where they are most needed.