Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to launch an urgent review of sarcoma care and treatment in NHS England.

Between April 2024 and April 2025, the Faster Diagnosis Standard performance for suspected sarcoma improved by 13.1%. However, more needs to be done to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients, especially for rarer cancers such as sarcoma.

The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, such as sarcoma, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. The Government is committed to backing innovative clinical research ecosystem in the United Kingdom so that British patients can be among the first to benefit as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the Department will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, by ensuring that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including sarcoma.