Written questions by Bance.

How many NHS patients died from cancer within three months of diagnosis in each of the last five years.

The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England is the cancer registry for England and collects data on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. The service is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrsThe following table shows the number of people who died within three months of their cancer diagnosis:Diagnosis yearNumber of patients who died within three months of diagnosis201841,647201939,973202041,599202141,878202241,228Source: NHS England DigitalNotes: Using the methodology from the Accredited Official Statistics on Cancer Registrations, the number of people who died within three months of their cancer diagnosis were counted. People who died on the same day as they were diagnosed were not included in the counts, as the vast majority of these are cases where the only indication of their cancer is their death certificate and their true date of diagnosis is not known. Many of the others are incidental findings at death. The statistics are available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics/england-2022 My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has announced that a National Cancer Plan for England will be published in 2026. The Prime Minister’s health mission sets the objective of building a National Health Service fit for the future, and an essential part of this is achieving our goal to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer. The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care- as well as prevention and research and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years. This will benefit all cancer patients, including pancreatic cancer patients.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of pay transparency for (a) staff and (b) nursing staff working in GP surgeries.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for National Health Service staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS, and trade unions to reach their recommendations.The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we are accepting the DDRB’s pay recommendation and we will provide a 4% uplift to the pay elements of the GP Contract. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to GP practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. We expect this funding to be passed on to salaried practice staff, including nursing staff.This award is above forecast inflation over the 2025/26 pay year, meaning that the Government is delivering a real-terms pay rise, on top of the one provided last year, underlining the extent to which we value our GPs, practice nurses, and other GP staff.Earlier in the year we announced that we are investing an additional £889 million in GPs through the GP Contract for 2025/26 to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.Following the DDRB’s recommendation, we will provide a further uplift to the pay elements of the contract on a consolidated basis, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to bring it up to 4%.The Government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliamentary cycle, and we will continue to engage constructively with the General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.

Whether general practice employers in England will be required to provide a 4% pay uplift to (a) nursing staff and (b) other general practice staff in line with the NHS pay award for the financial year 2025-26.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for National Health Service staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS, and trade unions to reach their recommendations.The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we are accepting the DDRB’s pay recommendation and we will provide a 4% uplift to the pay elements of the GP Contract. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to GP practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. We expect this funding to be passed on to salaried practice staff, including nursing staff.This award is above forecast inflation over the 2025/26 pay year, meaning that the Government is delivering a real-terms pay rise, on top of the one provided last year, underlining the extent to which we value our GPs, practice nurses, and other GP staff.Earlier in the year we announced that we are investing an additional £889 million in GPs through the GP Contract for 2025/26 to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.Following the DDRB’s recommendation, we will provide a further uplift to the pay elements of the contract on a consolidated basis, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to bring it up to 4%.The Government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliamentary cycle, and we will continue to engage constructively with the General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a recovery mechanism in incidents of NHS pay uplifts not being provided to (a) nursing staff and (b) other general practice staff by general practice employers.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for National Health Service staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS, and trade unions to reach their recommendations.The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we are accepting the DDRB’s pay recommendation and we will provide a 4% uplift to the pay elements of the GP Contract. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to GP practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. We expect this funding to be passed on to salaried practice staff, including nursing staff.This award is above forecast inflation over the 2025/26 pay year, meaning that the Government is delivering a real-terms pay rise, on top of the one provided last year, underlining the extent to which we value our GPs, practice nurses, and other GP staff.Earlier in the year we announced that we are investing an additional £889 million in GPs through the GP Contract for 2025/26 to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.Following the DDRB’s recommendation, we will provide a further uplift to the pay elements of the contract on a consolidated basis, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to bring it up to 4%.The Government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliamentary cycle, and we will continue to engage constructively with the General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.

By how much will the pay of general practice staff, including nursing staff, increase for the financial year 2025-26.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for National Health Service staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS, and trade unions to reach their recommendations.The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we are accepting the DDRB’s pay recommendation and we will provide a 4% uplift to the pay elements of the GP Contract. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to GP practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. We expect this funding to be passed on to salaried practice staff, including nursing staff.This award is above forecast inflation over the 2025/26 pay year, meaning that the Government is delivering a real-terms pay rise, on top of the one provided last year, underlining the extent to which we value our GPs, practice nurses, and other GP staff.Earlier in the year we announced that we are investing an additional £889 million in GPs through the GP Contract for 2025/26 to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.Following the DDRB’s recommendation, we will provide a further uplift to the pay elements of the contract on a consolidated basis, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to bring it up to 4%.The Government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliamentary cycle, and we will continue to engage constructively with the General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for IVF for access to treatment for surrogate mothers where the intended parents are same-sex male couples.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) sets out recommendations on the criteria for referral for fertility treatment in its guideline, Fertility problems: assessment and treatment [CG156]. The NICE guideline recommends that unstimulated intrauterine insemination should be considered as an option for people in same-sex relationships as an alternative to vaginal sexual intercourse. For groups included in this recommendation, including same-sex couples, who have not conceived after six cycles of donor or partner insemination, despite evidence of normal ovulation, tubal patency, and semen analysis, the NICE guideline recommends offering a further six cycles of unstimulated intrauterine insemination before in vitro fertilization (IVF) is considered.The guideline is currently being updated, including consideration of the recommendations on the prediction of IVF success, the effectiveness of IVF versus intrauterine insemination, versus expectant management, and fertility preservation. The NICE’s draft guidance will be subject to a public consultation, at the earliest opportunity.