§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to increase access to specialists for suspected cancers, with particular reference to the most disadvantaged patients. [110362]
§ Yvette CooperWe have introduced a two week waiting time standard, which will be in place for all cases of suspected cancer by the end of this year, whereby all patients with suspected cancer referred urgently by their general practitioners for a specialist investigation should be seen within two weeks.
We are also developing cancer referral guidelines to help GPs and other members of primary care identify more easily those symptoms that could be cancer and require an urgent appointment with a specialist within two weeks. The final guidelines will be published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in April 2000.
915WWe are also increasing the number of cancer specialists. There are currently 400 higher specialist trainees for main cancer specialties—oncology and palliative care. We expect these will emerge from training over the next five years increasing the number of specialists by 60 per cent. Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, is developing a work force strategy and will work with professional bodies and local cancer networks to identify future work force demands and ways in which they could be met.