Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with NHS England on the impact of staffing on the (a) National Cancer Patient Experience Survey programme and (b) collection of data on people with pancreatic cancer.

We are not aware of an impact of staffing on the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey programme, or on the collection of data on people with pancreatic cancer.

The Department is working closely with NHS England to make sure we have the right workforce with the right skills, across the country. In 2023, the National Health Service published the first ever Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by over £2.4 billion of Government funding, to deliver the biggest training expansion in NHS history. Regarding cancer specifically, the number of staff in the cancer workforce has increased by 50% since 2010.

The 2022 National Cancer Patient Experience survey showed respondents’ average rating of care was 8.8 out of 10, with zero being very poor and 10 very good. 75.5% of respondents said they definitely received the right amount of support for their overall health and wellbeing from hospital staff.