Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) develop and (b) fund a comprehensive blueprint of psychological care for young people with cancer.

There are no plans to develop and fund a blueprint for psychological care for young people with cancer. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement have established a task and finish group to review psychosocial support for people affected by cancer, including young people. Furthermore, the NHS Long Term Plan states that where appropriate every person, including young people, diagnosed with cancer should receive a Personalised Care and Support Plan based on holistic needs assessment, end of treatment summaries and health and wellbeing information and support, including for mental health needs.

Clinical commissioning groups develop strategic clinical plans covering a wide range of health care services based on their local population needs, and will use these plans to decide how to best use their budgets to deliver high quality care to their patients. In doing so they use their clinical expertise to assess and prioritise those treatments that provide the safest and most effective outcomes for the population.