§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to reduce the rate of(a) misdiaglosis and (b) late diagnosis among teenage cancer patients.[109398]
§ Ms BlearsThe National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is in the process of updating the Department of Health's referral guidelines for suspected cancer to help general practitioners identify those patients who are most likely to have cancer and therefore require urgent assessment by a specialist. This will cover teenage cancers.
NICE is also producing "Improving Outcomes" guidance for child and adolescent cancers to ensure services for these patients are capable of achieving consistently good outcomes.
In addition, we are providing funding through the National Cancer Research Network to enable more teenage cancer patients to enter trials of the latest treatments.
§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those constituencies which(a) have a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit and (b) do not have a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit.[109400]
§ Ms BlearsWe are aware of eight teenage cancer trust units operating in the national health service. They are situated in the following constituencies: Cities of London and Westminster; Holborn and St. Pancras; Birmingham Edgbaston; Manchester Withington; Sheffield Hallam; Leeds Central; Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central; and Liverpool Wavertree. Further teenage cancer trust units are under development.
§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health in which hospitals teenagers with cancer are not treated on wards alongside(a) children and (b) older people.[109401]
§ Ms BlearsNo statistics are available centrally which allow us to show which hospitals treat teenager cancer patients alongside children and which treat them alongside older people.