Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve (a) the referral process and (b) treatment for people with brain tumours.

The Department recognises that cancer patients, including those with brain tumours, are often waiting too long for referral and treatment. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including brain tumours, earlier, and to treat them faster, so more patients survive, and patient experience improves across the system.

As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment, NHS England has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration.

The Department recognises that there are currently limited treatment options available for people who have been diagnosed with brain tumours, and the significant impact that rarer forms of cancer can have on patients, carers, and their families. The Government is invested in driving new lifesaving and life-improving research, supporting those diagnosed and living with brain tumours.

In the five years between 2018/19 and 2022/23, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) directly invested £11.3 million in brain cancer research projects, plus an estimated £31.5 million to enable brain tumour research to take place through NIHR research infrastructure, namely facilities, services, and the research workforce, enabling delivery of 227 studies involving 8,500 people.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. Research is a key focus of the plan, and the Department will work closely with partners, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research, on this.

The Department, with NHS England, will develop the plan, which will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits. The Government’s goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years, including to brain tumours.

The Department expects to publish the National Cancer Plan later this year, following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan.