Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures NHS England is putting in place to ensure the development of a national policy for molecular diagnostic testing before existing legacy arrangements expire in 2016; who will lead those plans; when they will begin; and when progress will be reported.

NHS England is leading a range of activities relating to the future of molecular diagnostics which over time will begin to inform new approaches to the prediction and prevention of disease as well as the application of new targeted therapies, in support of delivering the ambitions set out in the 5 Year Forward View. These include: the re-procurement of Genomics Local Laboratory Hubs; the establishment of a Task Force to oversee development of a new national strategy for cancer; and the coordination of the NHS contribution to the 100,000 Genomes Project which includes the building of a new molecular pathology network. In addition to this, NHS England is conducting analysis to clarify legacy arrangements for commissioning molecular diagnostics and identify future commissioning mechanisms.