Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of sarcoma (i) care and (ii) treatment and (b) health outcomes of people diagnosed with sarcoma; and if he will conduct an urgent review of sarcoma (A) care and (B) treatment.

NHS England has published a national service specification, covering both bone and soft tissue sarcomas. The specification requires close working between sarcoma services and other National Health Service partners, co-ordinated by Sarcoma Advisory Groups, to improve care pathways.

Work is underway across both bone and soft tissue sarcoma provision to ensure that cancer care providers meet national service standards and improve care to patients.

The Government welcomes the recent publication of Sarcoma UK’s Sarcoma State of the Nation report as it highlights the importance of early diagnosis, care co-ordination across complex pathways, research into new treatments, and survivorship. Our forthcoming National Cancer Plan will set out how we will improve outcomes for all cancers, including sarcoma.