§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department makes available to the public on the quality and performance of cancer care services; and if he will make a statement. [78222]
§ Mr. HuttonA range of information is available which has a bearing on the quality and performance of cancer care services. Annual statistical bulletins on the breast and cervical screening programmes in England give information on uptake, coverage and detection rates. The 653W Office for National Statistics publishes the following information on cancer incidence, cancer survival and mortality:
Source Incidence Cancer Statistics Registrations England and Wales 1992 ONS Series MB1 Cancer survival ONS Monitor MB1 98/1 Cancer survival in England and Wales: 1981 and 1989 registrations Mortality Mortality Statistics Cause England and Wales 1997 ONS Series DH2 No.24 Waiting list data by specialty are collected and published quarterly in both the "Department of Health NHS Executive Hospital Waiting List Statistics: England" for inpatients and the "Department of Health NHS Executive Waiting Times for First Outpatient Appointments in England: Detailed Statistics" for outpatients. Data are available at specialty level for both health authorities and national health service trusts. Cancer treatment data may be contained within some of the various specialty classifications. Hospital episode statistics, which show the number of finished consultant episodes, are also collected. Copies of all publications are available in the Library.
High level performance indicators (HLPIs) will be published shortly, which will include a number of indicators for cancer services. The HLPIs aim to provide an overview of how the NHS is performing, encourage national and local improvements in performance and support public accountability.
A cancer information strategy, within the wider health information strategy, is currently being developed, which will streamline information sources. Areas for action which have been identified include developing a core cancer information pack for patients, carers and other users; information requirements of primary care; and patient-centred information systems.