Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the shorter diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer in place in Scotland whereby women with suspected ovarian cancer are referred for a CA125 blood test and an ultrasound at the same time; and whether he plans to introduce a similar process in England.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on ovarian cancer: recognition and initial management (CG122) is incorporated into the NICE guideline on suspected cancer: recognition and referral (NG12), which was reviewed in January 2020. No new evidence was identified during the surveillance review which would warrant a change to the current recommendations.

NICE is planning to undertake a surveillance review of CG122 in 2020/21 and the diagnostic pathway will be considered at that time.