Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what action he plans to take to ensure that the Cancer Drugs Fund panel consults with expert clinicians when re-evaluating listed treatments for pancreatic cancer.

This is a matter for NHS England. NHS England has advised us that its Cancer Drugs Fund panel includes expert oncologists, haemato-oncologists and oncology pharmacists, as well as patient representatives.

Should the panel consider that it requires additional advice on a particular cancer to aid its decision making, it will access this externally as appropriate.

NHS England’s standard operating procedures for the Fund are available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/