Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve waiting times for cancer treatment in Buckinghamshire.

Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to improving survival rates for cancer and we have committed to the new 28-day faster diagnosis waiting times standard. Implementation in all trusts including Buckinghamshire, subject to Government approval, is planned from spring 2020.

Buckinghamshire is included in plans to develop Rapid Diagnostic Service models as part of the Long Term Plan for Thames Valley to improve and speed up cancer diagnostics and patient experience. During 2019, they established a non-site specific (also referred to as vague symptom) pathway for general practitioners (GPs) with Buckinghamshire NHS Trust to fast track such patients.

Cancer is a priority for this Government and in October 2018 we announced a package of measures that will be rolled out across the country with the aim of seeing three quarters of all cancers detected at an early stage by 2028 (currently just over half). This is part of the Long Term Plan for the National Health Service and forms part of how the Government will achieve its ambition to see 55,000 more people surviving cancer for five years in England each year from 2028.

The Long Term Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/