Cancer: Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the (a) differences between cancer in (i) children and young people under 25 and (ii) older adults and (b) strategic approaches to meet the needs of each population.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has been clear in his view that there should be a national cancer plan, and we are now in discussions about what form it should take, including how we will account for children and young people. We will develop and publish the 10-Year Health Plan before publishing a new national cancer plan, and will provide updates in due course.
We recognise that cancer in children and young people is different to cancer in adults, and should be treated as such, particularly in regard to treatment, diagnosis, and wider support. We are committed to carefully considering this as part of our work.
In spring 2024, a series of stakeholder workshops, carried out in preparation for the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, identified several key areas where we know further work is required to improve the care and treatment of children and young people with cancer. These include data, early detection and diagnosis, and access to clinical trials. The work carried out to date on the taskforce was incredibly valuable, and remains important to the Department's work. We are committed to progressing work in this area and we will set out more details on next steps for the taskforce in due course.
Young Lives vs Cancer is a valued stakeholder with a unique perspective on this issue. We will continue to engage with them, as well as other children and young people cancer charity stakeholders as we progress this work.
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