Cancer: Medical Treatments
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, further to the Answer of 27 May 2026 to Question 2631, whether accountability mechanisms will be put in place to ensure that NHS trusts, commissioners and regional partnerships act on the quality standards set out in the cancer manuals where unwarranted variation in access to cancer treatment is identified.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
The Department and NHS England are reviewing the process for developing cancer manuals, including the criteria to use to select specific tumour types, accountability mechanisms and consultation processes.
As set out in our National Cancer Plan, the first wave of manuals will include an equal balance of rare cancers where survival has been slowest and the most common cancers. It is in the combination of both points that we will maximise progress against our ambition to reduce disparities in cancer survival.
To deliver a crackdown on patchy cancer care to drive up standards across England and tackle health inequalities head on, new cancer manuals will set out what good care looks like, with regional partnerships of health leaders and clinicians using data to drive improvements where services are falling short.
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