Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department is making on measuring and reporting progress against commitments with regard to people with rare and less common cancers.

Improving outcomes for cancer patients is a priority for the Government. The National Cancer Plan sets out a clear ambition to improve early diagnosis and survival across all cancer types, including leukaemia and other blood cancers.

The National Cancer Plan recognises that blood cancers are harder to measure through traditional early diagnosis metrics because they cannot be staged in the same way as other cancers. As a result, NHS England will publish regular data on cancers diagnosed through emergency presentations as a proxy measure for late diagnosis. This will help identify variation and encourage systems to focus on earlier diagnosis of blood cancers, including leukaemia, and other rarer cancers.

In addition, the Department and NHS England are supporting development of a suspected haematological cancer timed diagnostic pathway being led by Leukaemia UK, Lymphoma Action, and Myeloma UK. This guidance is intended to support National Health Service organisations to reduce diagnostic delays, improve consistency of care, and help more patients receive a diagnosis within 28 days of referral under the Faster Diagnosis Standard. Publication is expected later this year.

Progress against the National Cancer Plan's commitments for rare and less common cancers will be overseen through the National Cancer Board, which is responsible for tracking delivery and monitoring impact. To strengthen accountability, the Government will appoint a National Clinical Lead for Rare Cancers who will provide independent clinical advice and support monitoring of progress against the plan's commitments. The Department will continue to publish cancer performance and outcomes data, and ministers will provide regular updates on delivery of the plan.