Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) widen treatment options on the NHS for people with brain tumours and (b) prevent patients from having to go abroad to access treatment.

People with brain tumours have access to various treatment options on the National Health Service, including surgery, radiotherapy and systematic anti-cancer therapies, depending on the nature and stage of the tumour.

The Government is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment, so that people with brain tumours can get access to the care they need more quickly. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.

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.