§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide a specialist breast cancer centre of excellence in the north-west. [41940]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 11 March 2002]: The Calman Hine Report states that where appropriate, cancer services should be provided close to patients. Furthermore, the large volume of patients attending for assessment, diagnosis and treatment together with the current available evidence suggests that a single centre of excellence would be impractical. Therefore there are no plans currently in the north-west region to develop a single centre specialising in breast cancer treatment.
All NHS providers of care for breast cancer patients have recently been appraised against the national standards contained in the "Manual of Cancer Standards". The three cancer networks within the north-west now have the results of those appraisals and are working with those providers to develop action plans where necessary and to prompt further developments as appropriate.