Cancer Treatment (Hansard, 26 March 2002)

§ Mr. Francois
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to visit Southend Hospital to discuss the provision of cancer treatment for people in South East Essex. [43737]

§ Jacqui Smith
A meeting has been arranged for 28 March by Eastern Regional Office to which local hon. Members, councillors and officials from Essex Strategic Health Authority designate have been invited to allow fuller discussion of the provision of cancer treatment for people in South East Essex.

§ Dr. Evan Harris
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will announce whether the targets of(a) a maximum one month wait for breast cancer treatment and (b) a maximum one month wait for urgent GP referral to treatment for children's and testicular cancers and acute leukaemia have been met in England. [42498]

§ Yvette Cooper
The standards of a maximum wait of one month from diagnosis to first definitive treatment for breast cancer and one month from urgent general practitioner referral to treatment for children's and testicular cancers and acute leukaemia came into effect 909W at the end of December 2001. Central monitoring began on 1 January 2002 and data will be published on a quarterly basis.

§ Simon Hughes
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his policy on waiting times for cancer treatment. [43747]

§ Yvette Cooper
The NHS Cancer Plan sets out our strategy to reduce waiting times for cancer patients. The ultimate goal is that no one should wait longer than one month from an urgent referral for suspected cancer to the beginning of treatment except for a good clinical reason or through patient choice. There is a series of staged milestones towards this goal: new targets introduced for 2001 were a maximum one month from diagnosis to treatment for breast cancer and a maximum one month from urgent GP referral to treatment for acute leukaemia and children's and testicular cancer. By 2005 there will be a maximum one month wait from diagnosis to treatment and a maximum two month wait from urgent GP referral to treatment for all cancers. Achievement of these targets will be supported by investment in workforce and equipment, and by service redesign through the Cancer Services Collaborative.

§ Norman Lamb
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of progress towards the reduction of waiting times for cancer treatment. [43753]

§ Yvette Cooper
The NHS Cancer Plan sets out a series of staged milestones towards the goal that no one should wait longer than one month from an urgent referral for suspected cancer to the beginning of treatment except for a good clinical reason or through patient choice. A two week outpatient waiting time standard was introduced in December 2000 and in the last quarter 95.1 per cent. of urgent referrals for suspected cancer were seen within two weeks. Standards of a maximum wait of one month from diagnosis to first definitive treatment for breast cancer and a maximum one month from urgent GP referral to treatment for children's and testicular cancers and acute leukaemia came into effect at the end of 2001. Central monitoring of these standards began on 1 January 2002 and data will be published on a quarterly basis.