Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of increases in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer and BRAF mutation among younger people in (a) England and (b) Europe.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
The UK National Screening committee (UK NSC) has not considered the BRAF mutation as part of the bowel cancer screening programme. However, the UK NSC remains open to any suggestions that could improve screening programmes and these can be submitted through the UK NSC website during their three-month annual call for topics.
Improving referral rates are an essential part of delivering our goal to improve cancer survival rates and show that our efforts to encourage people to come forward, including the ‘Help Us Help You’ campaign, are working. For bowel cancer, the campaign urged people to take up the new home testing kit and have extended the screening offer to those aged 50-74 to ensure more people are diagnosed with bowel cancer at the earliest stage.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for NHS (a) testing and (b) screening programmes of increases in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer and BRAF mutation in younger people.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
The UK National Screening committee (UK NSC) has not considered the BRAF mutation as part of the bowel cancer screening programme. However, the UK NSC remains open to any suggestions that could improve screening programmes and these can be submitted through the UK NSC website during their three-month annual call for topics.
Improving referral rates are an essential part of delivering our goal to improve cancer survival rates and show that our efforts to encourage people to come forward, including the ‘Help Us Help You’ campaign, are working. For bowel cancer, the campaign urged people to take up the new home testing kit and have extended the screening offer to those aged 50-74 to ensure more people are diagnosed with bowel cancer at the earliest stage.
Mentions:
1: Hannah Bardell (SNP - Livingston) week.Last week was Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, an opportunity to break the silence on inflammatory bowel - Speech Link
2: Hannah Bardell (SNP - Livingston) or conditions like cancer suffer very similar challenges—finding a loo that is working, stocked and - Speech Link
3: Hannah Bardell (SNP - Livingston) cancer, can be similar to those of Crohn’s or colitis. - Speech Link
4: Andrew Stephenson (Con - Pendle) The work includes provision of a right care scenario on inflammatory bowel disease. - Speech Link
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress she has made on increasing access to cancer screening in the North West.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England North West has carried out significant work to improve access to cancer screening in the area, including: insight work into cervical screening, which has highlighted some issues, resulting in the piloting of potential solutions; a breast mobile site review being carried out, with findings and recommendations to be shared with trusts to act upon; five bowel and seven breast providers have been trained to use data to develop a Health Equity Audit, which will be submitted at the end of June 2024, with funding being offered to providers to design, develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention to reduce inequalities and barriers experienced by a population group they have identified in their Health Equity Audit; and funding being provided for Improving Uptake in Screening Officers, working to support non responders to take up the offer of breast screening.
Asked by: White, Tess (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - North East Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the waiting time for a colonoscopy once a patient is notified that further investigation is required after returning a bowel screening test.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care
Our priority is to ensure those people referred for suspected cancer or via screening programmes receive the appropriate diagnosis and treatment safely, based on their clinical urgency. To specifically support scope-based diagnostics, we have published a £70m Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan, including provision of additional endoscopy training places via the NHS Academy to future-proof the workforce and provide additional diagnostic capacity to reduce waiting times.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Digital pathology to improve cancer screening and save lives, published on 5 January 2024, what additional training will be given to pathologists working to enable the quick uptake of new technology.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee to support the use of digital pathology in the National Health Service cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening programmes, NHS England are investing in and working with the Royal College of Pathologists in the on-going development of an online Pathology Portal.
This digital learning platform will support trainees and established pathology practitioners in digital pathology to ensure that digital learning materials are available to the multi-professional workforce.
NHS England plans to issue guidance at the end of January 2024 for the three NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, to support local providers of histopathology services who wish to implement digital pathology for the reporting of screening cases.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Minister in her Department is responsible for delivery of (a) cancer screening programmes and (b) the NHS public health Section 7A agreement.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My role as the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care includes responsibility for major diseases including cancer, and for screening.
In accordance with the NHS Public Health Functions Agreement (made under section 7A of the NHS Act 2006) NHS England is responsible for providing or securing the provision of breast, bowel and cervical screening programmes and other specified public health services.
My Rt. Hon friend, Andrea Leadsom MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care, has led ministerial responsibility for arrangements under section 7A.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the possibility and potential of implementing routine assessments into the prevalence and geographic and socioeconomic disparities of people with (1) Crohn’s disease, and (2) ulcerative colitis to inform healthcare investment and planning decisions.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information is already collected on a range of bowel conditions, including Hospital Episode Statistics, through the Model Health System, and data from the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. These support clinicians and commissioners plan and prioritise care for people with bowel conditions, considering health disparities and patient needs.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21865 on Bowel Cancer: Greater Manchester, what is the average waiting time to receive (a) an appointment for a coloscopy and (b) the results from a colonoscopy in (i) England, (ii) Greater Manchester and (iii) Stepping Hill Hospital.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Statistics on diagnostics waiting times via modality for England, and at commissioner and provider levels, is publicly available and can be accessed via the following link: