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 reduce waiting times for cancer treatment, in the context of the withdrawal of funding for AI auto-contouring technology.

We will improve National Health Service cancer waiting time performance, so patients are diagnosed and treated faster. We will also improve cancer survival rates by diagnosing cancers at an earlier stage.

We will build on recent successes, including the roll out of the Lung Screening programme, to diagnose cancer earlier and boost survival rates.

Furthermore, the recently announced National Cancer Plan will set out key goals and actions to improve on cancer waiting time performance and survival rates.

The Department supports the NHS in reviewing opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to transform performance, bring down waiting times, and improve survival rates.