Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make assessment of the adequacy of diagnosis times for bowel cancer.

Bowel cancer patients are waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment. However, we will improve survival rates and hit all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets, so no patient, including those with bowel cancer, waits longer than they should.

The NHS will maximise the pace of roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing community diagnostic centres. They will also increase the capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and CT scanners.

Furthermore, following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan, which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including bowel cancer patients.