Cancer: Genomics
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the NHS's genomic testing capacity for patients diagnosed with cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory, which includes tests for over 200 cancer clinical indications, and which sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing.
In the 2019 NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England set the commitment to offer whole genome sequencing as part of routine care, including for children with cancer and for adults suffering from specific cancers. The latest data, from April 2024 to December 2024, showed cancer genomic testing activity of 129,610, which was half of all types of genomic testing in the same period.
To support more extensive cancer genomic testing, NHS England is working to ensure collaboration between pathology and genomics networks to address issues, including capacity, networking, and optimisation of cancer tissue pathways.
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