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Oral Cancer and Throat Cancer: Diagnosis

Asked by Jim ShannonDemocratic Unionist PartyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 16 January 2025UIN 23318

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time taken to diagnose (a) mouth and (b) throat cancer.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

No specific assessment has been made on the adequacy of mouth and throat cancer diagnosis waiting times.

However, it is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer as early and quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and ultimately to improve outcomes.

The Department is committing to improving waiting times for cancer treatment, starting by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to support faster diagnosis and access to treatment.

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