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 ensure that the cancer service specifications for teenagers and young adults published in 2023 are (a) funded and (b) implemented as part of the National Cancer Plan.

The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for teenagers and young adults with cancer. The Department recognises that cancer in teenagers and young adults is different to cancer in adults and children, and that age-appropriate care is necessary regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications.

The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more teenagers and young adults survive. The Department and NHS England are taking a range of steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups. This includes the NHS delivering an extra 40,000 scans, appointments, and operations each week to ensure that patients are seen and treated as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, the Department set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform plan, published on 6 January 2025. The Department has asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard, to reduce the number of patients, including teenagers and young adults, waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.

NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in teenagers and young adults. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.

The national service specifications relating to the provision of Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Cancer Services describes the service and clinical standards, as well as the relationships that need to be in place with other services that patients might need to access. Alongside the publication of the TYA Cancer Service Specifications, NHS England provided investment to establish and run networks, whose purpose is to drive improvements to pathways and the co-ordination of care. As of 1 April 2025, the responsibility for commissioning TYA Cancer Services was delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). This means that ICBs are responsible for ensuring continued compliance with national service specifications.

TYA Cancer Services provide a level of psycho-social support for patients dealing with cancer diagnosis and treatment through cancer nursing and clinical support. Teenagers and young adults with cancer may also access support for their mental health needs in mental health services commissioned by ICBs, for example Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

The National Cancer Plan, due to be published in the new year, will have a commitment to children and young people, aged between zero and 24 years old with cancer, as a priority group. The plan will cover the entire pathway and aims to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer.

On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan.