Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to help ensure that people with bladder cancer in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency receive (a) an early diagnosis and (b) swift treatment.

We will get the National Health Service catching cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier and treating it faster so more patients survive this horrible set of diseases, including bladder cancer, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system.

Nationally, there is a focus on innovation and a move to develop new cancer tests. University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust has been part of the Galleri trial of blood tests to identify cancer at the earliest stage. The trust is supporting the development of these trials and their adoptions as they are made available.

UHNM is working with primary care networks and other primary care stakeholders to outline a clear set of actions and milestones to improve referral practice, particularly for bowel, gynaecology and urology patients.