Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to fund a single digital tracking system for cancer tissue samples provided for genomic testing, so that that they may be tracked at every point of their journey.

Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (NHS GMS). A central feature of the NHS GMS is the National Genomic Test Directory. The Test Directory outlines the full range of genomic tests that are commissioned and sets out the technology by which tests are available.

NHS GMS provides a national Genomics Unit which is responsible for strategic oversight, direction, commissioning and funding and performance monitoring of genomics service.

As the Department focuses on shifting from analogue to digital, we will continue to review opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence and digital innovations to speed up diagnostic performance, including for genomic testing, and bring down waiting times that will ultimately improve patient care and outcomes.  Furthermore, to support more extensive cancer genomic testing, NHS England is working to ensure collaboration between pathology and genomics networks to address issues including capacity, networking and optimisation of cancer tissue pathways.

Additionally, the National Cancer Plan, due for publishing later in 2025, will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care- as well as prevention, research and innovation, including for genomic testing pathways.