Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take ensure there is sufficient provision of (a) rehabilitation and (b) prehabilitation for cancer patients across all cancer alliances.

National Health Service trusts and cancer alliances are responsible for ensuring that plans are in place to meet the needs of patients in their localities. Therefore, the Department does not have additional plans to ensure there is provision of rehabilitation and prehabilitation for cancer patients across all cancer alliance areas.

A range of resources are available to the NHS workforce to support prehabilitation, rehabilitation, and physical activity. For example, NHS England provides the PRosPer Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation learning programme, which aims to support allied health professionals and the wider healthcare workforce in developing their skills in providing personalised care, prehabilitation, and rehabilitation in the cancer pathway. This programme forms part of the Personalised Care Institute’s library of personalised care training for all healthcare professions.