Rare Cancers: Diagnosis
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to action 9 on page 76 of his Department's document entitled National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, what progress he has made on assessing novel procurement routes for diagnostics and treatments for rare cancers, including brain tumours; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure timely adoption and rollout of approved diagnostic innovations.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for people with rare and less common cancers, including brain tumours, and to ensuring that patients benefit from effective innovations as quickly and safely as possible.
The Department is working with NHS England to consider how procurement approaches can better support earlier access to diagnostics and treatments for rare cancers, including for brain tumours. The plan sets out that we will explore new procurement routes in 2026 and we will publish an annual report on progress against the commitments in the National Cancer Plan.
To support timely adoption and rollout of approved diagnostic innovations, NHS England is strengthening cancer pathways and making greater use of digital tools to identify bottlenecks and delays. This includes expanding the use of the Federated Data Platform to all trusts to support clinicians and operational teams to consolidate multiple frontline operational systems into a single view, facilitating more effective and efficient clinical and operational decisions.
The Department is also supporting the deployment of diagnostic innovations through national investment, including focusing the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund on the deployment of technologies in key, high-demand areas such as chest X-Ray and chest CT scans to enable faster diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in over half of acute trusts in England.
NHS England will continue to work with Regions and Cancer Alliances to support providers to adopt effective innovations and to improve pathway performance, including targeted support for challenged trusts and pathways.
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