Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of clinical oncology workforce shortages on the adoption of innovative cancer treatments by NHS trusts.

We are building out the cancer workforce. As of June 2025, there are over 1,800 full time equivalent doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is almost 440, or 31.5%, more than in 2020.

Following additional investment through recent Spending Review settlements, trainees across 16 cancer-related specialties, including clinical and medical oncology, increased from 623 to 773 per year, a 24% increase.

To grow the workforce, NHS England has been expanding specialty training places in key cancer professions. Targeted national campaigns and outreach activities, for example in clinical oncology, also promote cancer career pathways, with a focus on increasing applications to under-supplied professions.

Training academies in imaging, endoscopy, and genomics are being delivered across regions to provide intensive skills development and to support new models of care, including for cancer patients. Ongoing investment in practice education enhances clinical supervision, education, and training across the cancer and diagnostic workforces, increases placement capacity, supports staff retention, and contributes to high-quality patient care.

The adoption of innovative cancer treatments is often clinician-led and self-identified, with doctors seeking out specialist training opportunities themselves. This may include overseas fellowships or short courses, after which skills are cascaded locally through continuing professional development, multidisciplinary teams, and peer-to-peer learning. NHS England supports this through centrally underwritten study leave budgets. In addition, through curriculum reform, selected innovations are incorporated into formal training programmes, ensuring that some advances move from self-directed uptake into nationally standardised education.