Jan. 19 2009
Source Page: Cancer commissioning guidance. 159 p.Found: Cancer commissioning guidance. 159 p.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to tackle pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is delivering a range of interventions that are expected to improve early diagnosis and treatment for patients with suspected and diagnosed pancreatic cancer. For early diagnosis, this includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those patients at inherited high-risk, to identify lesions before they develop into cancer, and diagnose cancers sooner. New pathways are being created to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types. General practice direct access to diagnostic tests is also being increased.
To improve the consistency of access to treatments, NHS England is funding an audit into pancreatic cancer which aims to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022, and the first report is expected in October 2024.
NHS England’s Getting it Right First Time programme has also appointed a team of five specialist clinicians to lead a national review into services for pancreatic cancer patients in England. The workstream supports the delivery of the Optimal Care Pathway, a Pancreatic Cancer UK-led initiative which has brought together 300 health professionals and people affected to agree on how standards of diagnosis, treatment, and care of those patients with pancreatic cancer and their families can be improved, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.
Aug. 20 2024
Source Page: Ovarian cancer QS updateFound: Ovarian cancer QS update
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people with breast cancer receive (a) an early diagnosis and (b) swift treatment.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is responsible for healthcare in England. In Northern Ireland, health is a transferred matter.
Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for NHS England. NHS England has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live longer. The National Health Service in England carries out approximately 2.1 million breast cancer screens each year in hospitals and mobile screening vans, usually in convenient community locations.
The Department is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment across England. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support research on (a) the causes of and (b) treatments for acute myeloid leukaemia.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests £1.5 billion per year on health research, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was over £121.8 million for 2022/23, and more is spent on cancer than any other disease group.
The Government, through the NIHR, is committed to improving research into cancers with the poorest survival rates, such as acute myeloid leukaemia, by funding high quality, timely research that leads to improved outcomes for patients and the public and makes the health and social care system more efficient, effective, and safe. Research evidence is vital for improving treatments and outcomes for people, including those with pancreatic cancer and other less survivable cancers. The following table shows NIHR research spend on diagnosis, treatment, and both diagnosis and treatment of blood cancers, including leukaemia, since 2018:
| Number of projects | Total awards value |
Blood cancer diagnosis | 11 | £11,900,000 |
Blood cancer treatment | 14 | £14,700,000 |
Blood cancer diagnosis and treatment | 4 | £7,700,000 |
In 2023, the Government awarded £2 million to new interdisciplinary research teams tackling hard to treat cancers, via the Medical Research Council’s two-day cancer sandpit strategic funding opportunity, focused on technological innovation for understanding cancers with the poorest survival rates.
The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome applications for research into any aspect of human health, including acute myeloid leukaemia. All applications are assessed for funding by peer review committees. The level of research spend in a particular area is driven by factors including the quality of the proposals and their scientific potential. All applications for research into pancreatic cancer and other less survivable cancers made through open competition have been funded.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve waiting times for cancer treatment in the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board following an urgent GP referral.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cancer patients are being failed, waiting too long for a diagnosis and treatment. The latest cancer waiting times data from NHS England shows Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board performance is below both the 31-day treatment standard and the 62-day diagnosis and treatment standard. This data is publicly available and can be accessed via NHS England’s website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
The Department is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment across England, including within the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment. Additionally, Lord Darzi is currently undertaking an independent investigation into the state of the National Health Service, the findings of which will feed into the government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future.
Mentions:
1: None patients; you can imagine the stress of waiting for diagnosis and then going through cancer treatment - Speech Link
2: None The CFSD is commissioned to work on the earlier cancer diagnosis element of cancer work. - Speech Link
3: Dornan, James (SNP - Glasgow Cathcart) What progress has been made to ensure that rapid cancer diagnosis is available across the country, and - Speech Link
4: Sweeney, Paul (Lab - Glasgow) diagnosis is available across Scotland, and what more needs to be done? - Speech Link
5: None There is a lot of stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis, but it happens across cancers. - Speech Link
Sep. 09 2024
Source Page: Lymphoedema: prevention and management in people with early, locally advanced, and advanced breast cancer (update)Found: Lymphoedema: prevention and management in people with early, locally advanced, and advanced breast cancer
Mentions:
1: Navendu Mishra (Lab - Stockport) should have equal access to faster diagnosis, no matter where they live. - Speech Link
2: Alison Thewliss (SNP - Glasgow Central) Will they also introduce a new nationally endorsed pathway to improve early diagnosis, and will they - Speech Link
3: Andrea Leadsom (Con - South Northamptonshire) programme for liver cancer, which aims to prevent liver cancer by actively checking for liver disease - Speech Link
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of diagnosis rates for lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department has not made a specific assessment as invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC) can be difficult to detect through screening. ILBC is harder to diagnose than most other breast cancer types, with mammograms less effective at detecting it, particularly in women with dense breast tissue. Therefore ILBC is often diagnosed later than other breast cancer types.
Research is showing how screening for and diagnosing ILBC can be improved to detect disease earlier and more consistently than current rates, with potential to develop more targeted treatments. To further improve the detection of breast cancers including ILBC, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is currently funding a £1.3 million research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography.
The Department continues to work closely with research funding partners such as Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, and cancer charities who fund research into new scientific discoveries including ILBC.