§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Prime Minister what progress has been made in improving cancer care services since he hosted the Cancer Summit in May 1999. [118323]
§ The Prime MinisterImproving cancer services is one of our top priorities for the National Health Service. For the first time we have a single Minister with responsibility both for cancer prevention and treatment. We have also appointed Professor Mike Richards as the new National Cancer Director to spearhead the drive for fairer, faster cancer services and to ensure the implementation of tough 201W new standards of care. A broad programme of work has been put in place to ensure prompt access to cancer diagnosis and treatment and to improve the quality of our cancer services.
We are committed to modernising cancer services and have invested an extra £70 million since 1997 for breast, colo-rectal, lung and outpatient cancer services. £80 million has been made available to cut waiting times, and we are investing £100 million in cancer equipment, with the New Opportunities Fund allocating a further £93 million to this area.
We have introduced a new two-week outpatient standard waiting time for all urgent cancer referrals. This has been in place for breast cancer patients since April 1999 and over 56,000 women have benefited from this standard. This high standard of care will be extended to all those with suspected cancer requiring urgent investigation by the end of this year.
To help improve the quality of cancer services we have published evidence-based guidance on improving outcomes for breast, colo-rectal, lung and gynaecological cancers. Guidance on stomach cancers will be available in the spring, and over the next two years the National Institute for Clinical Excellence will commission further guidance on a range of other cancers.