Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to give the same, or higher priority, to deaths resulting from cancer as those related to COVID-19.

Cancer is a priority for this Government and survival rates are at a record high. Over the past decade, rates of survival from cancer have increased year-on-year.

In October 2018 the Government announced a package of measures that will be rolled out across the country with the aim of seeing three quarters of all cancers detected at an early stage by 2028 (currently just over half). This is part of the NHS Long Term Plan, which also included commitments on radiotherapy, personalised care interventions and screening, among others.

During the COVID-19 crisis, urgent and essential cancer treatments continued. Some cancer diagnostics and treatments were rescheduled to protect vulnerable patients from having to attend hospitals. These were all clinical decisions made with the patient and the recovery and restoration of cancer services to pre-pandemic levels is well underway.