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 support primary care providers in assessing hereditary cancer risk for people without a clear family history.

Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver laboratory based genetic testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory (the Test Directory), which includes tests for over 7,000 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications, including both whole genome sequencing (WGS) and non-WGS testing. The Test Directory includes a range of tests for inherited cancer as part of its coverage of rare and inherited disease and cancer related genomic indications. Further information on the Test Directory is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-genomic-test-directories/

The Test Directory sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested, the method that should be used, and the clinical specialities able to request the test. A robust and evidence based process and policy is in place to routinely review the Test Directory and ensure that genomic testing continues to be available for all patients for whom it would be of clinical benefit, while delivering value for money for the NHS. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/genomics/the-national-genomic-test-directory/

Qualified general practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs across their whole scope of practice. The Royal College of General Practitioners provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.

NHS England is supporting GPs in referring cancer patients earlier in various ways. This includes encouraging GP direct access to tests for patients who fall outside of urgent suspected cancer referrals and sharing evidence-based assessments of where cancer recognition and referral guidance could be improved with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to inform referral updates. NHS England also funds Gateway-C, an early diagnosis education platform aimed at primary care.