Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her timetable is for the introduction of the recommendations of the final evaluation report for the secondary care routine reflux cohort of the Cytosponge test.

On 26 February 2024, NHS England published the results of the cytosponge test pilot for secondary care routine reflux and Barrett’s surveillance cohort, which began in January 2021, and launched at 30 hospitals across England. The pilot tested over 8,500 patients with the capsule sponge test. Evaluation of a cohort of patients showed almost eight out of 10 patients, who completed a test, were discharged without the need for further testing, freeing up endoscopy capacity for higher risk patients and those referred for urgent tests for oesophageal cancer. Patients with positive results from the capsule sponge test who were referred on for an endoscopy had the highest prevalence of Barrett’s oesophagus, at 27.2%, compared to zero patients with negative results who completed an endoscopy.

A timetable for the introduction of the recommendations of the final evaluation report for the secondary care routine reflux cohort of the cytosponge test, is yet to be finalised and published.