Written questions by McEvoy.

What steps his Department is taking to support the treatment of cancer patients.

The National Cancer Plan sets out how we will tackle unwarranted variation head on and end the postcode lottery for cancer care.It will shift healthcare from hospitals to the community and ensure that all cancer patients, regardless of where they live, have access to high-quality, specialist cancer services.We will redesign cancer services around people’s lives, not just around hospitals, recognising that more people are living for longer with and beyond cancer and need ongoing, coordinated support. The plan provides the blueprint for England to become a world leader in cancer survival once again and improve the quality of life for those living with cancer in England.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the (a) diagnoses of and (b) treatments for motor neurone disease are undertaken in a (i) efficient and (ii) timely manner.

We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029.NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with MND.

What steps he is taking to support social care workers to use their career experience to support their qualifications as NHS workers.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have institutional autonomy to set their own admissions criteria to healthcare profession qualifying courses. Some HEIs accredit prior experiential learning (APEL), including from working in social care, which helps reduce the time it takes to achieve a qualification in a healthcare profession working in the National Health Service. This will vary by HEI and course.NHS England is leading a programme of work to standardise the approach to APEL across the country and maximise the opportunity from shortened programmes to deliver more professionals more quickly.