Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS 2021-22 priorities and operational planning guidance, published on 25 March 2021, whether the NHS is on schedule to tackle the backlog of cancer diagnosis, care and treatment by the end of March 2022.

NHS England and Improvement are committed to clearing the cancer backlog of patients waiting over 62 days from referral to first treatment by March 2022. Progress has been made, with 2.68 million urgent referrals and over 664,000 people treated for cancer between March 2020 and May 2021. In May 2021 general practitioner urgent referrals for suspected cancer were 14% higher than the May 2019 baseline. Cancer referrals have reached over 10,500 referrals per day in April and nearly 11,000 in May.