Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people they estimate have missed cancer treatment since March in (1) England and Wales, (2) Scotland, and (3) Northern Ireland; and what estimate they have made of the impact of this on future cancer mortality statistics.

In England, there have been no estimates made of this kind. The Government cannot comment for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland as this is a devolved matter.

The long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on service provision and outcomes will be widespread and complex to identify and evaluate.

Critical care services, including for heart disease and stroke, as well as urgent and essential cancer treatments have remained open and continued throughout the pandemic, and have not been interrupted. The data show that the timeliness and quality of care have been broadly equivalent to, or better than, pre-COVID-19.