Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Cancer52's report entitled, Improving diagnosis: Patient and clinician perspectives on increasing early diagnosis in rare and less common cancers, published in February 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a target that 75% of children and young people with cancer are diagnosed within ten days of first symptom presentation to a clinician.

We are committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive, including children, teenagers, and young adults.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for general practitioners on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.

The Department is also taking steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups, including children and young people. This will be achieved by delivering an extra 40,000 scans, appointments, and operations each week to ensure that patients are seen and treated as quickly as possible.

To further support timely investigation after referral, we are working with the NHS to maximise the pace of the roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing community diagnostic centres, with capacity prioritised for cancer.

On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce. The taskforce will explore a range of issues, including early detection and diagnosis, in order to identify improvements for this patient group.