Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings in the review by Lord Darzi of Denham Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England, published on 12 September, that (1) "cancer care lags behind other countries", and (2) "the UK has appreciably higher cancer mortality rates than other countries"

Professor Lord Darzi’s report sets out that the United Kingdom has higher mortality from cancer than neighbouring countries, the Nordic countries, and other English-speaking countries, using data published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. His report also uses the latest data from the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership to show that five-year survival for common cancers is below that of comparable countries.

The Department remains committed to improving cancer survival rates by hitting all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets within five years, so no patient waits longer than they should.

We will get the NHS diagnosing cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier, and treating it faster, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system.

The findings of Professor Lord Darzi’s independent review will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. We are considering how a long-term strategic approach to cancer would best fit in with the 10-year plan.