Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recruitment freezes in cancer centres on the likelihood of the NHS achieving its targets for 62-day cancer referrals in the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework.

The Government is committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. NHS England continues to work towards its March 2027 cancer performance ambitions, including improvements in diagnostic and treatment waiting times.

Recruitment decisions are matters for individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the workforce required to deliver safe and effective services.

The Government continues to support workforce growth across cancer services and there were more clinical oncology and radiology doctors working in NHS England in April 2026 than in April 2025.