Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that minimally invasive cancer therapies are available for patients across the country.

Data on the number of cancer patients that have had access to minimally invasive cancer therapies in the last year by integrated care board (ICB), is not collected. The adoption of new treatments, including increasing the number and availability of minimally invasive cancer treatments, into the National Health Service in England is generally the result of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and commissioner decisions. Both NHS England and the ICBs are required to put access in place for any treatment that carries a positive recommendation from the Technology Appraisal programme, operated by the NICE.

Where treatments are approved by the NICE through the Technology Appraisals programme, the NHS is required to make them available within agreed timescales, which vary by technology. Implementation of any NICE approvals will be supported by the service readiness assessment, and the development of additional capacity where necessary.

During 2024/25, NHS England will continue to support all ICBs in integrating the planning and commissioning of suitable specialised services with their wider population-level commissioning responsibilities, in line with their individual timeline for delegation. All systems are asked to make progress in transforming pathways of care in their priority areas.