Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral statement of 2 May 2018, Official Report, column 315, on Breast Cancer Screening, what training was given to Serco staff responsible for responding to queries on the PHE phone helpline before the helpline number was made public.

Helpline staff received a package of training which is normal practice for such calls. This included face to face and written briefings so that information could be provided to callers with empathy. The helpline staff have been supported with a comprehensive triage process so that more complex calls could be escalated, including to a nurse call back service.