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 with NHS England to revise the list of non-specific symptoms (NSS) that warrant referral to the NSS pathway to include more symptoms which may indicate a brain tumour.

Non-Specific Symptom (NSS) pathways are intended to cover the cohort of patients who do not fit clearly into a single ‘urgent cancer’ referral pathway, but who are nonetheless at risk of cancer. If a patient has specific alarm symptoms warranting referral onto a single site-specific pathway then these patients are better suited for a tumour-specific urgent suspected cancer pathway. In November 2022, NHS England launched the first phase of general practitioner (GP) direct access guidance to expand the availability of specific tests to GPs for people with concerning symptoms that do not meet the threshold for an urgent suspected cancer referral. Direct access diagnostics, NSS pathways and existing site-specific routes sit alongside and complement each other to ensure GPs are able to act swiftly to investigate the wide range of symptoms which can indicate cancer.