§ Earl Howeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they are taking to improve the treatment of skin cancer in England. [HL3255]
§ Lord WarnerThe Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly Government have commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to produce service guidance for skin tumours including melanoma. This guidance is expected to be published in April 2005.
The recommendations set out in the guidance will be translated into a series of measures against which cancer networks will be peer reviewed to ensure the guidance is being implemented.
The Department of Health has also issued GP cancer referral guidelines to assist general practitioners in determining those patients who need to be referred 129WA urgently to see a specialist within two weeks. The guidance addresses skin cancers. The referral guidelines are currently being reviewed by NICE and the updated guidelines are due to be published in March 2005.
In addition, patients with skin cancer will also benefit from the measures set out in the National Health Service Cancer Plan to improve services across the board for cancer patients.
§ Earl Howeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the proportion of time spent by general practitioners in dealing with suspected cases of skin cancer or pre-cancerous skin lesions. [HL3256]
§ Lord WarnerNo assessment has been made by the Government of the proportion of time spent by general practitioners in dealing with suspected cases of skin cancer or pre-cancerous skin lesions.
The Department of Health has issued GP cancer referral guidelines to assist GP's in determining those patients who need to be referred urgently to see a specialist within two weeks. The guidance addresses skin cancers. The referral guidelines are currently being reviewed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the updated guidelines are due to be published in March 2005.