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 encourage (a) trainee and (b) newly qualified healthcare professionals to specialise in blood cancer.

We will publish a refreshed Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.

We will ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it, including for blood cancer.

NHS England is working to strengthen pathways into cancer specialties, including blood cancer, by expanding training opportunities and creating structured career routes. This includes increasing medical training posts in haematology, with an expansion of 20 posts in 2024, and enhancing the scientific workforce supply through initiatives such as the Scientist Training Programme and Higher Specialist Scientist Training.