Prostate Cancer: Diagnosis
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase access to PSA tests for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer for men in rural areas.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring healthcare needs of local communities are met. These responsibilities include considering adequate healthcare provision, care, and wider support for local populations, including in rural and socio-economically deprived areas.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer as the Prostate Specific Antigen test does not meet the required accuracy for use in a national screening programme. Current methods offer insufficient benefits in relation to harms caused by overdiagnosis, such as invasive investigative procedures and unnecessary treatment.
However, the National Health Service is prioritising the roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing community diagnostic centres, with capacity prioritised for cancer diagnostics.
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