Cancer Services (Hansard, 9 November 2001)

§ Mr. Vaz
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women have been tested for cervical cancer in Leicestershire in the last 12 months. [10581]

§ Jacqui Smith
In 2000–01, 65,712 women underwent cervical screening in Leicestershire health authority.

§ Mr. Vaz
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many pilot areas there are in England for cervical screening; and what the time scale is for these pilots; [10582]
(2) if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the thin prep pap test; [10583]
471W
(3) what representations he has received on increasing access to the thin prep pap test beyond the pilot areas. [10584]

§ Jacqui Smith
The pilot of liquid based cytology (LBC) and human papilloma virus testing as triage for women with mild or borderline abnormalities is taking place at three sites; Newcastle, Norfolk and Norwich, and North Bristol. The pilot began in April 2001. The LBC arm of the pilot is being evaluated from October 2001, and results of the evaluation are expected in 2002.
ThinPrep and AutoCyte Prep were the only liquid based slide preparation systems available at the time the pilot was developed. ThinPrep is being used at two of the sites, and AutoCyte prep at the third site. The evaluation of the pilot will gather data on the effectiveness of both systems.
The NHS cancer plan set out the commitment that if evaluation of the pilot is successful we will fund the introduction of LBC across the national health service.
We have had no representations on increasing ThinPrep beyond the pilot areas.

§ Mr. Vaz
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost of the treatment of a cervical cancer patient. [10585]

§ Jacqui Smith
The cost of treating different patients varies by the type of treatment they receive. The elements of the total cost incurred depend upon the individual components and treatments within the care pathway for that patient. For cervical cancer, a hysterectomy might be performed (£1,861 average cost for elective in-patient in 1999–2000) and/or a course of radiotherapy undertaken, which would vary dependent on the type and classification of the type of cancer involved.

§ Mr. Bercow
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the funds allocated to the treatment of(a) breast cancer, (b) cervical cancer and (c) prostate cancer. [11867]

§ Jacqui Smith
The Department does not collect figures on the cost of national health service services in a way that enables an accurate figure to be calculated for the cost of or investment in a particular disease.
We made available an additional £280 million in 2001–02 for the development of cancer services. This will rise to £407 million in 2002–03 and £570 million in 2003–04. Local health authorities and primary care trusts, with cancer networks, are responsible for determining local priorities in implementing the NHS cancer plan.