Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of availability of follow up MRI scans for women who have undergone mastectomies to tackle lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
£2.3 billion was awarded at Spending Review 2021 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. The remainder of the funding will increase capacity for imaging, including MRI scans, endoscopy as well as lung and mammography screening, and improve digital diagnostics.
Growth in the MRI asset base and increased use of MRI acceleration software is creating additional capacity for approximately 572,000 MRI examinations per annum within the NHS in England.
The Department and NHS England have taken steps to improve the treatment of invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC) but are aware that more needs to be done. In September 2022, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre announced funding from NHS England and the Welsh Government of £5.4 million to support delivery of six new national cancer audits. Two of these focus on breast cancer, one on primary and one on metastatic, and include ILBC.
Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors. Over the last five years, the NIHR Clinical Research Network has supported 10 ILBC-related studies.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on (a) improving understanding of and (b) finding a cure for Lobular cancer as of 31 January 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), with NIHR expenditure for all cancers being £121.8 million in 2022/23.
Current NIHR research into breast cancer includes a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, such as lobular breast cancer. The NIHR also supports research on lobular breast cancer through its research infrastructure, including Biomedical Research Centres which are undertaking research on early detection and genetic aspects of breast cancer. It is difficult to attribute research infrastructure funding allocations to specific disease and therapy areas as the staff and facilities funded through the NIHR infrastructure supports research across disciplines.
Additionally, the NIHR supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors through the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network (CRN). Over the last five years the CRN has supported delivery of 10 lobular breast cancer-related studies.
Research on the underpinning science to understand the mechanisms of cancer, including lobular breast cancer, is funded through the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Medical Research Council who spend £125 million annually on cancer research. The NIHR also works closely with research funding partners including Cancer Research UK, Breast Cancer Now, Medical Research Council, and other cancer charities.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research the Government is funding on tackling lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), with NIHR expenditure for all cancers being £121.8 million in 2022/23.
Current NIHR research into breast cancer includes a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, such as lobular breast cancer. The NIHR also supports research on lobular breast cancer through its research infrastructure, including Biomedical Research Centres which are undertaking research on early detection and genetic aspects of breast cancer. It is difficult to attribute research infrastructure funding allocations to specific disease and therapy areas as the staff and facilities funded through the NIHR infrastructure supports research across disciplines.
Additionally, the NIHR supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors through the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network (CRN). Over the last five years the CRN has supported delivery of 10 lobular breast cancer-related studies.
Research on the underpinning science to understand the mechanisms of cancer, including lobular breast cancer, is funded through the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Medical Research Council who spend £125 million annually on cancer research. The NIHR also works closely with research funding partners including Cancer Research UK, Breast Cancer Now, Medical Research Council, and other cancer charities.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of women who (a) have and (b) do not have multiple sclerosis attended (i) cancer screening appointments, (ii) mammograms and (iii) cervical screening appointments in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service screening programmes do not collect data on an individual’s long-term condition, and therefore no data is available on what proportion of women who have multiple sclerosis, participate in cancer screening programmes.
Under the Equality Act 2010, and the Health and Social Care Act 2012, NHS screening providers have a legal duty to make sure screening services are accessible to everyone, including people with long term conditions, who may have issues with access.
The following table provides data on the percentage of coverage for the three cancer screening programmes, breast, cervical and bowel, within the age groups invited for NHS screenings, in England over the last five years:
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
Breast Screening – ages 50 to 71 years old | 74.9% | 74.6% | 74.2% | 64.2% | 65.3% | 66.4% |
Cervical Screening – ages 25 to 64 years old | 71.4% | 71.9% | 72.2% | 70.2% | 69.9% | 68.7% |
Bowel Screening – ages 60 to 74 years old | 59.2% | 59.5% | 60.5% | 64.3% | 66.1% | 70.3% |
Note: Data for bowel cancer screening is not separated based on sex.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 24 January (HL1798), in what circumstances the economic benefits of improved healthcare are assessed.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Economic assessment is undertaken in support of Governmental decision-making, particularly where significant new or existing public resources are required. HM Treasury’s Green Book provides detail of this and sets out guidance on appraising the impacts of government policy. These include employment and productivity effects, environmental impacts and changes in risks to life or health.
The Green Book guidance covers spending control processes, including the development of business cases, as well as regulatory control processes, including regulatory impact assessments.
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, whether her Department plans to launch a national awareness campaign on breast screening.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently exploring opportunities for national campaigns to support positive outcomes on women’s health. Work is underway to scope the feasibility of running a national campaign to support breast screening uptake, and this will be informed by pilot activity due to run in London in 2024/25.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 24 January (HL1798), why there are no timescales for reaching the achievable target of 80 per cent for breast cancer screening.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has developed an internal national plan in collaboration with key stakeholders to improve uptake within the breast screening programme from 2023 and beyond. This plan will encompass a series of evaluative projects which are expected to report by April 2024
There is currently no intention of publishing the internal plan, but it is available on the NHS Futures Platform. This is a collaboration platform that empowers everyone working in health and social care to safely connect, share and learn across boundaries.
NHS England and the Department are working in collaboration to establish a set of improvement objectives. Rather than a timescale for reaching the target of 80%, each region has a local improvement plan and are working to reach the agreed efficiency standard following restoration of services post COVID-19 pandemic. It was agreed that a quantified focus on reducing variation was preferable to setting timescales.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 24 January (HL1800), why the improvement plan for the NHS breast screening programme is not set to be published.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has developed an internal national plan in collaboration with key stakeholders to improve uptake within the breast screening programme from 2023 and beyond. This plan will encompass a series of evaluative projects which are expected to report by April 2024
There is currently no intention of publishing the internal plan, but it is available on the NHS Futures Platform. This is a collaboration platform that empowers everyone working in health and social care to safely connect, share and learn across boundaries.
NHS England and the Department are working in collaboration to establish a set of improvement objectives. Rather than a timescale for reaching the target of 80%, each region has a local improvement plan and are working to reach the agreed efficiency standard following restoration of services post COVID-19 pandemic. It was agreed that a quantified focus on reducing variation was preferable to setting timescales.
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: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 30 June 2023 to Question 190710 on Cancer: Screening, if she will publish (a) the NHS breast cancer screening uptake improvement plan and (b) an update on the (i) pilot and (ii) testing conducted.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has developed an internal national plan in collaboration with key stakeholders, to improve uptake within the breast screening programme from 2023 and beyond. There is currently no intention to publish the plan, but it is available on the NHS Futures Platform. This is a collaboration platform that empowers everyone working in health and social care to safely connect, share, and learn across boundaries.
NHS England has commissioned a series of evaluative projects as part of its internal national improvement plan for breast screening, which includes: actively following up with women who have missed an appointment or not engaged with the service; looking at the reasons why women do not attend screenings to address any barriers; and assessing the impact on screening uptake of using different invitation methodologies with reference to factors such as age, previous screening history, attendance at first invitation and subsequent invites, and deprivation. These projects are expected to report their findings by April 2024.