Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of blood cancer outcomes in (a) the UK and (b) international comparator countries for the four most common cancers.

The Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of blood cancer outcomes in the United Kingdom and international comparators for the four most common cancers. As noted by Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into the National Health Service, the rate of improvement for cancer survival slowed substantially during the 2010s. While survival rates have improved more quickly than many peer countries, they have done so from a low base. This means that the UK is still behind the Nordic countries for all major cancers.

Cancer death rates in the UK have fallen by more than a fifth between 1990 and 2011 and are predicted to drop by a further 17% between 2010 and 2030.

It is a priority for the Government to support the NHS in catching cancer, including blood cancers, as early as possible, to treat these diseases faster and more effectively, and thereby improve outcomes.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates in due course.