Written questions by Davies.

With reference to paragraph 4.5 of the Autumn Budget 2024, how many new (a) surgical hubs and (b) diagnostic scanners will be located in Yorkshire.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week Referral to Treatment constitutional standard by March 2029. The standard has not been met consistently since September 2015.Surgical hubs offer productive solutions by focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, and will contribute to providing the surgical capacity needed to return to the constitutional standard. There are 112 elective surgical hubs operational across England as of December 2024. There are 14 surgical hubs already operational in the North East and Yorkshire region, and three more are planned to open. These three are:- the Dewsbury and District Hospital Combined Elective Centre in Dewsbury;- the St Luke's Hospital Day Case Unit in Bradford; and- the Castle Hill Hospital Elective Hub in Cottingham.The Department cannot yet confirm the location of all the new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners from the capital investment announced in the Autumn Statement. NHS England is working with local National Health Service systems to identify the most appropriate locations for investments, including new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners. Details will be set out at the earliest opportunity.As detailed in the 2025/26 capital guidance, NHS England has provided systems with indicative allocations based on a combination of population-weighted shares and national and regional intelligence on where investment is needed and if it can be delivered within 2025/26. These allocations include funding for additional surgical hubs, diagnostic scanning capacity, urgent treatment centres co-located with emergency departments, and same day emergency care provision in those systems prioritised for these investments by national teams.

What assessment he has made on the potential impact of late diagnosis on outcomes for people with blood cancer.

The Government has not taken a specific assessment on the potential impact of late diagnosis on outcomes for people with blood cancer. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment. In addition to improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which the national evaluation found was one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways, therefore mitigating the impact of late diagnosis, and reducing emergency presentation.The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer and other cancers with lower survival rates. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and we will provide updates in due course.

What steps he is taking to help mitigate the impact of (a) delayed diagnosis and (b) emergency presentation rates on people with blood cancer.

The Government has not taken a specific assessment on the potential impact of late diagnosis on outcomes for people with blood cancer. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment. In addition to improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which the national evaluation found was one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways, therefore mitigating the impact of late diagnosis, and reducing emergency presentation.The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer and other cancers with lower survival rates. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and we will provide updates in due course.

Whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) introducing a proxy staging measure for non-stageable blood cancers and (b) applying a national target to (i) measure and (ii) support a reduction in levels of late diagnosis.

There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment. In addition to improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which the national evaluation found was one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer and other cancers with lower survival rates. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates in due course.

If he will publish a yearly evaluation of the suicide prevention training programme; and what steps he is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability in the programme.

As part of the Government’s mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we have set out our commitment to deliver a renewed drive to tackle the biggest killers, including suicide, while ensuring people live well for longer. As part of this, an additional 8,500 mental health workers will be recruited across children and adult mental health services, and those new workers will be specially trained to support people at risk.We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time, as will ensuring they have the necessary training. We are working to develop a plan to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce, including where they should be deployed to achieve maximum effect.The NHS is committed to ensuring that all healthcare professionals receive the necessary mental health training to meet the current and future needs of patients. In September 2023, NHS England published its suicide prevention toolkit for NHS staff to use.

What steps he is taking to ensure that mandatory suicide prevention training for all frontline workers is (a) fully funded and (b) effectively implemented in (i) healthcare, (ii) education, (iii) prisons and probation, (v) emergency services, and (v) money, housing, and employment services.

As part of the Government’s mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we have set out our commitment to deliver a renewed drive to tackle the biggest killers, including suicide, while ensuring people live well for longer. As part of this, an additional 8,500 mental health workers will be recruited across child and adult mental health services, and those new workers will be specially trained to support people at risk.The NHS is committed to ensuring that all healthcare professionals receive the necessary mental health training to meet the current and future needs of patients. NHS England has responsibility for working with partners to plan, recruit, educate, and train the health workforce. In September 2023, NHS England published its suicide prevention toolkit for NHS staff to use.It is for employers in the other emergency services, education, prisons and probation, money, housing, and employment services to ensure that their staff receive the appropriate training needed in order to carry out their duties effectively.

Whether the cancer plan will contain measures to improve (a) pathology and (b) testing within the (a) overall cancer and (b) triple negative breast cancer pathway.

The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with different types of cancer including rare cancers, sub-types of cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. The Government has set out plans to publish a ten-year health plan to reform the National Health Service. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates on this in due course. Data on triple negative breast cancer for England is collected through the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS). An NDRS Quality Assurance Team is in place to identify, investigate, and monitor data quality issues, with over 130 Quality Assurance reports being run each month as well as quarterly reports to assess the completeness of key data. To drive up the completeness of the data for triple negative breast cancer, progesterone receptor status, human epidermal growth factor receptor in situ hybridization status, and oestrogen receptor status are part of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set, which supports national registration. In January 2025, the Government published the Elective Reform Plan as part of the government’s Plan for Change. The plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients, including those waiting for pathology tests are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care. To improve the NHS Constitution standard for diagnostics, the cancer waiting time standards and the referral to treatment standard, we expect all community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital-based diagnostic services to be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week so that patients have improved access and availability to diagnostic tests, including pathology. Productivity and reform in CDCs will also be underpinned by investment in digital interventions. This will include all pathology networks reaching maturity in 2025. Networks are essential for facilitating diagnostic digitisation and ensuring the standardisation of systems needed for sharing results and optimising slot booking capacity. Networks can reduce variation and provide patients with equity of services' quality and efficiency, as well as maximise workforce efficiencies that can help to offset workforce shortages.

What steps he plans to take to improve patient outcomes for (a) rarer cancers, (b) sub-types of cancer and (c) triple negative breast cancer in the cancer plan.

The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with different types of cancer including rare cancers, sub-types of cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. The Government has set out plans to publish a ten-year health plan to reform the National Health Service. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates on this in due course. Data on triple negative breast cancer for England is collected through the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS). An NDRS Quality Assurance Team is in place to identify, investigate, and monitor data quality issues, with over 130 Quality Assurance reports being run each month as well as quarterly reports to assess the completeness of key data. To drive up the completeness of the data for triple negative breast cancer, progesterone receptor status, human epidermal growth factor receptor in situ hybridization status, and oestrogen receptor status are part of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set, which supports national registration. In January 2025, the Government published the Elective Reform Plan as part of the government’s Plan for Change. The plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients, including those waiting for pathology tests are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care. To improve the NHS Constitution standard for diagnostics, the cancer waiting time standards and the referral to treatment standard, we expect all community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital-based diagnostic services to be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week so that patients have improved access and availability to diagnostic tests, including pathology. Productivity and reform in CDCs will also be underpinned by investment in digital interventions. This will include all pathology networks reaching maturity in 2025. Networks are essential for facilitating diagnostic digitisation and ensuring the standardisation of systems needed for sharing results and optimising slot booking capacity. Networks can reduce variation and provide patients with equity of services' quality and efficiency, as well as maximise workforce efficiencies that can help to offset workforce shortages.

Whether his Department's cancer plan will include measures to improve the collection of data on triple-negative breast cancer.

The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with different types of cancer including rare cancers, sub-types of cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. The Government has set out plans to publish a ten-year health plan to reform the National Health Service. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates on this in due course. Data on triple negative breast cancer for England is collected through the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS). An NDRS Quality Assurance Team is in place to identify, investigate, and monitor data quality issues, with over 130 Quality Assurance reports being run each month as well as quarterly reports to assess the completeness of key data. To drive up the completeness of the data for triple negative breast cancer, progesterone receptor status, human epidermal growth factor receptor in situ hybridization status, and oestrogen receptor status are part of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set, which supports national registration. In January 2025, the Government published the Elective Reform Plan as part of the government’s Plan for Change. The plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients, including those waiting for pathology tests are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care. To improve the NHS Constitution standard for diagnostics, the cancer waiting time standards and the referral to treatment standard, we expect all community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital-based diagnostic services to be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week so that patients have improved access and availability to diagnostic tests, including pathology. Productivity and reform in CDCs will also be underpinned by investment in digital interventions. This will include all pathology networks reaching maturity in 2025. Networks are essential for facilitating diagnostic digitisation and ensuring the standardisation of systems needed for sharing results and optimising slot booking capacity. Networks can reduce variation and provide patients with equity of services' quality and efficiency, as well as maximise workforce efficiencies that can help to offset workforce shortages.

What steps he is taking to ensure that social care services are adequately funded to support individuals experiencing loneliness.

Loneliness and social isolation can affect many people and impact on their health and wellbeing. The Government’s current work to tackle loneliness includes: supporting a range of organisations through the Tackling Loneliness Hub, an online platform for professionals working to reduce loneliness; working to improve the evidence base around loneliness; and providing advice through the Better Health: Every Mind Matters campaign’s advice pages. It also includes the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, a grant fund designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England.To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as those that support individuals experiencing loneliness, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.

What steps his Department plans to take to ensure that funding allocated for radiotherapy is distributed equally across England, taking into account existing regional inequalities in radiotherapy access.

The funding for new radiotherapy machines will be used to replace outdated machines, and allocated to trusts using criteria that NHS England is currently developing. The new machines will support the recovery of cancer waiting times and help ensure that patients have access to the most up-to-date treatments. These criteria will be shared with providers in due course.

What criteria his Department plans to use to determine which trusts or hospitals will receive new radiotherapy machines.

The funding for new radiotherapy machines will be used to replace outdated machines, and allocated to trusts using criteria that NHS England is currently developing. The new machines will support the recovery of cancer waiting times and help ensure that patients have access to the most up-to-date treatments. These criteria will be shared with providers in due course.

What steps his Department plans to take to ensure that teenagers and young adults with cancer have access to specialist psychological support within the 10-year health plan.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course. In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

What steps his Department is taking to consult teenagers and young adults with cancer on the 10-year Health plan.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course. In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that teenagers and young adults with cancer have access to clinical trials within the 10-year Health plan.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course. In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

What steps his Department will take to improve the speed of diagnosis for teenagers and young adults with cancer within the 10-year Health plan.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course. In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

What plans his Department has to ensure that the specific issues faced by teenagers and young adults with cancer are accounted for in the 10-Year Health Plan.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course. In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

What steps his Department taking to improve information for (a) young people and (b) their families about the symptoms of cancer.

We are committed to getting the National Health Service catching cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier, and treating it faster, so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases. This includes in relation to children and young people.NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in children. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.The Department is not currently taking any additional specific action to expand on information of the signs and symptoms of childhood cancers. However, we are committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with cancer and are considering next steps to take forward work in this area through the relaunch of Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce.

What plans his Department has to tackle barriers teenagers and young adults with cancer face in accessing clinical trials.

To maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.The Department funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research across the United Kingdom, through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). For children and young people with cancer, this infrastructure includes the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres, co-funded by the NIHR, Cancer Research UK and the Little Princess Trust, which act as a UK-wide network, bringing together world-leading laboratory and clinical researchers to test new treatments for adults and children with cancer. This includes 12 paediatric phase I/II centres, which function as a single virtual centre to improve patient recruitment and expand geographical access to cancer treatments, tackling some of the barriers to teenagers and young adults accessing cancer clinical trials.The Department is committed to ensuring clinical trials are people-centred and more accessible, including for teenagers and young adults with cancer. For example, the NIHR provides an online service called 'Be Part of Research' which promotes participation in health and care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies. Young adults aged 18 or over, can consent to be matched to and contacted about relevant studies.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce alcohol-specific deaths.

A vital part of delivering the Health Mission shift to prevention will be action to reduce the health harms and resulting deaths from excess alcohol consumption. The Department is continuing to invest in improvements to local drug and alcohol treatment services. Funding for drug and alcohol treatment services is provided through the Public Health Grant. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use.Earlier this year the Department published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths and near-fatal overdoses to prevent future deaths. This is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-drug-and-alcohol-deaths-partnership-review-process/preventing-drug-and-alcohol-deaths-partnership-review-processAdditionally, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has published Commissioning quality standard: alcohol and drug services, which provides guidance for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services in their areas. Further information on the guidance is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commissioning-quality-standard-alcohol-and-drug-servicesThe Department will soon publish the UK Clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment, which will include recommendations on developing effective, accessible, and inclusive services. The Department continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need and drug and alcohol misuse deaths, and to drive improvements in the continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess local need, and plan to meet it.As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, over £30 million of national funding has been invested between 2019 and 2025, on an ambitious programme to establish new, or optimise existing, Alcohol Care Teams (ACTs) in the 25% hospitals with the highest need, which is 47 out of 188 eligible sites in England. The ACTs identify people in hospital whose ill health is related to alcohol use, commence treatment for alcohol dependence, and refer to community alcohol treatment on discharge.