Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with Leukaemia UK on publication of a cancer strategy.

The Department has not had discussions with Leukaemia UK regarding the publication of a cancer strategy. The NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019, sets out the National Health Service’s current key ambitions on cancer. The plan sets out the NHS ambition to increase the number of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 to 75%, to increase the number of people surviving cancer for five years by 55,000 as a result.

Professor Lord Darzi is currently undertaking an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, the findings of which will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will set out any further priorities on cancer and health in due course.