Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Operational and Contracting Guidance 2020-21, when the consultation on the Faster Diagnosis Standard for cancer closed; and when that guidance was published.

In recognition that current standards measure time to be seen by a doctor rather than the time to being provided a diagnosis of cancer, in 2015 the Independent Cancer Taskforce recommended the introduction of a new standard, to ensure that people receive a life changing confirmation of whether or not they have cancer within 28 days.

The Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) has been tested as part of the wider clinical review of access standards, and no performance threshold has yet been set.

The NHS Standard Contract consultation, which closed at the end of January, set an initial expectation that the threshold will be set between 70-85%, and outlined NHS England and NHS Improvement’s intention to increase the performance threshold over time as appropriate. The threshold for the FDS will be included in the finalised standard contact for 2020/21.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for the performance management of NHS providers, and will ensure appropriate contractual and financial levers are in place to drive performance improvement.