Thank you for contacting me about breast cancer.
Please be assured that every effort is being made to continue raising awareness of breast cancer and to improve the treatment of all those diagnosed with this disease. I want to provide reassurance that reducing waiting times for cancer treatment, including for breast cancer, is an urgent priority for the Government. As part of the 2021 Spending Review, £2.3 billion was allocated to improve diagnostic capacity over the next three years.
The Government is committed to rolling out at least 100 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), which will be new one-stop-shops for checks, scans and tests, helping those with suspected breast cancer to access earlier diagnostic tests closer to home. In addition, NHS England and Improvement is asking local health services to focus on reducing the number of people waiting over 62 days on cancer pathways.
The Government is committed to ensuring that as many people are diagnosed to breast cancer within 28 days from GP referral. The Government is developing a new Ten Year Cancer Plan, with a key priority being to drive earlier diagnosis, including through meeting the Faster Diagnosis Standard and joint awareness campaigns with patient groups like Breast Cancer Now.
If you or anyone you know is affected by this locally and you think that I can help, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Thank you once again for taking the time to contact me about these important issues.
1 August 2022