Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the potential merits of reviewing guidance for the (a) diagnosis, (b) care and (c) treatment of brain tumours.

Officials in the Department regularly discuss a range of issues with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including proposals to review or update existing guidelines. NICE keeps its published guidelines under surveillance and decisions on whether they should be updated in light of new evidence taken independently by NICE’s prioritisation board. NICE currently has no plans to update its guideline on “brain tumours (primary) and brain metastases in over 16s”.

We are aware of Siobhain McDonagh's campaign, in memory of the late Baroness McDonagh, and are committed to working together to explore options.