Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that GPs have access to clinical decision support tools for identifying rare or less common cancers.

Improving diagnosis rates and access to treatment are key priorities for the Government for all cancer types, including rare and less common cancers.

We are improving public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms, streamlining referral routes, and increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres. We are also investing an additional £889 million in general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.

We are committed to ensuring that GPs have the right training and systems to identify cancer. Use of specific clinical decision support tools are agreed at a local level.

The recently announced National Cancer Plan, which will complement the 10-Year Health Plan and support delivery of the Government’s Health Mission, will set out further actions to improve diagnosis, including for rare or less common cancers. The plan will also provide further details on how we will ensure patients have access to the latest treatments and technology and ultimately bringing this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.