Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to guarantee access to Whole Genome Sequencing for all brain cancer patients.

NHS England is responsible for commissioning the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) in England. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is available through the NHS GMS for all brain cancer patients where expert review indicates genomic testing is needed to support diagnosis, treatment decisions, or clinical trial access. The number of brain cancer patients receiving WGS has increased over the past 12 months.

NHS England is also exploring alternative technological approaches to brain cancer genomic testing, in order to support more timely and scalable genomic testing.