Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the survival rate for pancreatic cancer; and whether policies on increasing the survival rate will be included in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Will Quince
Early diagnosis is key to improving survival rates for pancreatic cancer. The Department is working with the National Health Service to improve diagnosis and treatment for those with cancer. The Elective Recovery Plan, published on 8 February 2022, set out the ambition that 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their general practitioner for suspected cancer will be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days by March 2024.
The pancreatic cancer clinical audit, led by the Royal College of Surgeons, began in 2021, with the first outcomes expected in 2023/24. A key aim of the audit is to support NHS services to stimulate improvements in cancer detection, treatment and outcomes for patients, including improving survival rates.
In addition, the NHS has allocated £10 million to innovations to support earlier and more efficient diagnosis, including the PinPoint blood test and a new genetic test that can be used as a ‘liquid biopsy’ for those with suspected pancreatic cancer.
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. The strategy will consider a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle inequalities in cancer outcomes between integrated care board areas.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reducing variation in cancer treatment is a strategic priority for the NHS Cancer Programme. There are four long-running audits on lung, oesophago-gastric, bowel and prostate cancer and the NHS Cancer Programme has commissioned five new cancer clinical audits, covering ovarian, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney, and primary and metastatic breast cancers. These will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October last year with the first outcomes expected in 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 reduce the time from (a) patients presenting with cancer symptoms to diagnosis and (b) from diagnosis of cancer to treatment for (i) cancer in general and (ii) pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to spend £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help maintain elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The Government awarded £2.3 billion at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. As part of this investment, up to 160 new Community Diagnostic Centres will deliver additional, digitally connected, diagnostic capacity in England, providing patients with a coordinated set of diagnostic checks, including for cancer.
For pancreatic cancer specifically, the National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes symptoms of pancreatic cancer. NHS England have also announced a new pancreatic cancer clinical audit to provide evidence of variation and support the National Health Service to increase the consistency of access to treatments and improve cancer detection for pancreatic cancer. The Royal College of Surgeons is supporting this work, and the first outcomes are expected in 2023/24.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to improve the provision of tests to screen for pancreatic cancer (a) in general and (b) for patients with a recorded family history of the disease.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to introduce a screening programme for pancreatic cancer. Approximately ten percent of pancreatic cancers are caused by hereditary factors. NHS England has been working with Pancreatic Cancer UK and others on opportunities to improve access to surveillance, in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, for those with inherited high risk of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Alliances are preparing to support this work in 2023/24.
Asked by: Dean Russell (Conservative - Watford)
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 help reduce care disparities for different cancer types.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to helping achieve the NHS Long-Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of patients at an early stage by 2028 and reducing inequalities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
Reducing variation in cancer treatment is a strategic priority for the NHS Cancer Programme. The NHS Cancer Programme has commissioned five new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October last year with the first outcomes expected in 2023/24. The audits will cover ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney cancer and primary and metastatic breast cancer.
Asked by: Dean Russell (Conservative - Watford)
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 improve the diagnosis of (a) lung, (b) pancreatic, (c) liver, (d) stomach, (e) brain, (f) oesophageal and (g) other less survivable cancers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Achieving earlier and faster diagnosis of cancer is a priority for the National Health Service. That is why one of the core ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan is to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028. NHS England’s plan to improve cancer outcomes and accelerate cancer diagnoses is based on six core strands of activity, from raising awareness of cancer symptoms and encouraging people to come forward, to implementing targeted interventions for particular cancer types that we know have previously experienced later stages of diagnosis.
This includes the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaigns, which focus on specific symptoms linked to certain cancer types and tackle the fear-related barriers to seeking help from the NHS, across all cancer types. The introduction of non-specific symptoms pathways, of which there are now 102 across England, means general practitioners can rapidly refer patients whose symptoms do not align with one suspected cancer pathway, such as abdominal pain or weight loss.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to prioritise (a) pancreatic cancer and (b) the other less survivable cancers in the Major Conditions Strategy, due to be published later this year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at all cancer types, covering the patient pathway from prevention, through treatment, to follow-up care. The strategy will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 19 December 2022 to Question 108144 on NHS: Staff, with which (a) trades unions, (b) medical royal colleges, (c) NHS system leaders, (d) voluntary organisations his Department consulted on the NHS workforce plan.
Answered by Will Quince
The following table shows the organisations that have been engaged. This list is not exhaustive because NHS England and Health Education England leaders and programme teams are also working with external stakeholders and their contribution is also informing the plan’s development.
Trade unions, royal colleges and representative bodies | Regulators | Members of Cancer Charities Group |
Unison | Professional Standards Authority | Alike |
Unite | General Medical Council | AMMF – the cholangiocarcinoma charity |
GMB | Care Quality Commission | Anthony Nolan |
Managers in Partnership | Healthcare and Professions Council | Blood Cancer UK |
British Medical Association | Nursing and Midwifery Council | Bloodwise |
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges | Think tanks | Bone Cancer Research Trust |
Royal College of Nursing | Nuffield Trust | Bowel Cancer UK |
Royal College of Midwives | The Health Foundation | Brain Trust – the brain cancer people |
Royal College of Physicians | The King’s Fund | The Brain Tumour Charity |
Royal College of Surgeons | Regulators | Brain Tumour Research |
Royal College of General Practitioners | Professional Standards Authority | British Liver Trust |
Royal College of Psychiatrists | General Medical Council | Breast Cancer Now |
Royal College of Anaesthetists | Care Quality Commission | Cancer 52 |
Royal College of Pathologists | Healthcare and Professions Council | Cancer Research UK |
Royal College of Ophthalmologists | Nursing and Midwifery Council | CATTS (Cancer Awareness for Teens & Twenties) |
Royal College of Occupational Therapists | Think tanks | Chai Cancer Care |
Royal Pharmaceutical Society | Nuffield Trust | Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group |
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists | The Health Foundation | CLIC Sargent |
Royal College of Ophthalmologists | The King’s Fund | CoppaFeel! |
Royal College of Emergency Medicine |
| DKMS |
Royal College of Podiatry |
| Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust |
The Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine |
| Eve Appeal |
The Society of Radiographers |
| Fight Bladder Cancer |
Institute of Osteopathy |
| GO Girls Support |
College of Operating Department Practitioners |
| Guts UK |
British Association of Art Therapists |
| Haven House |
British Association of Drama therapists |
| Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust |
British Association for Music Therapy |
| Kidney Cancer UK |
The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists |
| Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce |
British Dietetic Association |
| Leukaemia Care |
British and Irish Orthoptic Society |
| Leukaemia UK |
British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists |
| Lymphoma Action |
College of Paramedics |
| Macmillan Cancer Support |
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy |
| Maggie's – everyone’s home of cancer care |
College of General Dentistry |
| Marie Curie |
Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive healthcare |
| MDS UK Patient Support Group |
Queen’s Nursing Institute |
| Melanoma Focus |
Institute of Health Visiting |
| Melanoma UK |
British Society of Rheumatology |
| Mesothelioma |
The Richmond Group of Charities (including Macmillan Cancer Support, Diabetes UK, Asthma UK, Age UK) |
| Mylenoma UK |
Cancer Charities Group (*see separate list for members) |
| National Cancer Research Institute |
Council of Deans of Health |
| Neuroendocrine Cancer UK |
Medical Schools Council |
| OcuMel UK |
Universities UK |
| Ovacome |
University Alliance |
| Ovarian Cancer Action |
Office for Students |
| Pancreatic Cancer Action |
Skills for Care |
| Pancreatic Cancer UK |
Local Government Association |
| Paul's Cancer Support |
Association of Directors of Adult Social Services |
| Penny Brohn UK |
Social Partnership Forum |
| Prostate Cancer Research |
NHS providers |
| Prostate Cancer UK |
NHS Employers |
| Race Against Blood Cancer |
The Shelford Group |
| Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation |
ICS leaders |
| Salivary Gland Cancer UK |
NHS Confederation |
| Sarcoma UK |
Community Providers Network |
| Shine Cancer Support |
|
| Solving Kids Cancer |
|
| Target Ovarian Cancer |
|
| Teenage Cancer Trust |
|
| Trekstock |
|
| The Joshua Tree |
|
| WMUK – The charity for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia |
|
| World Cancer Research Fund |
Further discussions will take place before the plan is finalised. This will include engagement with patient representative groups. NHS England can discuss with any organisations interested in the development of the Plan.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve the (a) funding of, (b) research into and (c) waiting times for treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Autumn Statement, the Government is investing an additional £3.3 billion in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the National Health Service in England, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance towards pre-pandemic levels.
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including pancreatic cancer. Over the past five financial years, the NIHR has invested more than £14.6 million for pancreatic cancer research.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will publish the Ten Year Cancer Plan; and whether that plan will include measures to tackle pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the call for evidence for a 10 year cancer plan last year, we received over 5,000 submissions. We are currently reviewing these responses.