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14 Jan 2008 : Column 994W—continued
Cancer: Health Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what national measures are used to assess cancer services through peer review, as stated in paragraph 1.26 of his Department’s Cancer Reform Strategy. [174772]
Ann Keen: The national measures used to assess cancer services through peer review are set out in the “Manual for Cancer Services 2004” which is available on the Department’s website at:
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of patients received their first treatment for cancer within one month of diagnosis in the latest period for which figures are available, calculated using (a) Korner and (b) Hospital Episode Statistics data. [174777]
Ann Keen: The data requested are not available, as the waiting times standards within the NHS Cancer Plan (2000) are not monitored using Korner data collections or Hospital Episode Statistics.
The most recently available statistics from the Cancer Waiting Times Database (quarter 2 2007-08) show that 99.7 per cent. of patients received first treatment within one month of diagnosis.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to develop a kitemark for good cancer facilities, as described in paragraph 11.8 of his Department’s Cancer Reform Strategy. [175094]
Ann Keen: The Department will be working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support to develop the kitemark for cancer facilities. This work will commence in 2008.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which cancer networks three-year planning for implementing Improving Outcomes Guidance was found to be weak, as described in paragraph 9.29 of his Department’s Cancer Reform Strategy. [175099]
Ann Keen: 19 Cancer Networks did not have an agreed three year Network Service Delivery Plan at the time of their peer review visit. These were:
Lancashire and South Cumbria
Humber and Yorkshire Coast
North West Midlands
Pan-Birmingham
North West Midlands
South Essex
North London
South West London
Three Counties
Kent and Medway
Cancer Care Alliance
North Trent
Black Country
Arden
Mid Anglia
Mount Vernon
North East London
Dorset
Sussex
It should be noted that the peer review visits took place between November 2004 to March 2007 and so do not necessarily reflect the current position. It should also be noted that some of these networks have since merged.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to complete the design of the technical specifications for the NHS Cancer Patient Experience Survey Programme, as described in paragraph 5.73 of his Department's Cancer Reform Strategy; when he expects the national contract to run the cancer patient experience surveys to be let; and when he expects the first survey to be published. [175114]
Ann Keen: An expert group, including patients, will be set up in the first half of 2008 to design the technical specifications of the national health service cancer patient experience survey programme and a national contract will then be let for the collection, management and analysis of cancer patient experience surveys in 2008-09 with first results expected in 2009-10.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of multi-disciplinary cancer teams dealing with each type of cancer do not have clinical nurse specialist cover, as described in paragraph 5.43 of his Department's Cancer Reform Strategy 2007; and if he will make a statement. [175115]
Ann Keen: The percentage of multi-disciplinary cancer teams (MDT) without clinical nurse specialist cover at the time of their peer review visit is set out, for the tumour types known, in the following table:
| Type of MDT | Percentage of MDTs without CNS cover at peer review visit |
This information has been extracted from the cancer quality improvement network system (CQuINS), a web-based tool that has been developed to support acute trusts and cancer networks as part of the national cancer peer review programme. However, it should be noted that the peer review visits on which this information is based took place between November 2004 and March 2007 and so that position does not necessarily reflect the current position.
The cancer reform strategy, published on 3 December 2007, acknowledged the vital role that clinical nurse specialists can play in improving the experience of people living with cancer and across many aspects of the management and support of cancer patients. The strategy noted that good commissioners should benchmark their local cancer nurse specialist provision against that of similar primary care trusts and take action where this work force is found to be insufficient.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which cancer networks do not have information managers in post. [175116]
Ann Keen: The following cancer networks do not currently have an information manager in post:
Anglia
Arden
Essex
Kent and Medway
Mid Trent
Mount Vernon
North London
Peninsula
South East London
South West London
Sussex
West London
Yorkshire.
For networks where no current information manager is in post, two will be recruiting in January 2008, as funds have become available, and nine networks will be given a year's funding from Macmillan to support an information role.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where the pilots undertaken by the Cancer Services Collaborative referred to in paragraph 4.7 of his Department's Cancer Reform Strategy were undertaken; what new approach to implementing cancer waiting time reductions was investigated in each pilot; whether the pilots have been formally evaluated; and if he will make a statement. [175127]
Ann Keen: The Cancer Services Collaborative Improvement Partnership pilot sites were:
County Durham and Darlington NHS trust (tested the proposed two-week wait for all breast problems);
Whittington Hospital NHS trust (proposed two-week wait for all bowel problems);
Manchester Cancer Network (proposed two-week wait for all lung referrals);
Cambridge Breast Unit (reducing follow up);
Sheffield teaching hospital (31-day standard for all radiotherapy treatments and the right of consultants to upgrade patients onto a 62-day pathway where cancer is suspected); and
Luton and Dunstable hospital (stretching the current standards to see how quickly patients could be seen and treated).
The work of the pilot sites is reported on the Cancer Services Collaborative Improvement Partnership website at:
The new approach involved using service improvement techniques (such as High Impact Changes, and Lean), to assess whether proposed extensions to the current cancer waiting times standards were achievable. The work of the pilot sites informed the development of the Cancer Reform Strategy.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) missed diagnoses of cancer, (b) radiotherapy errors and (c) chemotherapy errors were reported to the National Patient Safety Agency in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [175130]
Ann Keen: The National Patient Safety Agency collects reports of patient safety incidents on the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) in England and Wales. All national health service trusts have been able to report into this system since late 2005. The number of reports received each year has increased as more trusts report into the system. Staff usually report patient safety incidents before any further investigation or follow-up has taken place.
Complete statistics are available for the years October 2005 to September 2006 and for October 2006 to September 2007. The following figures refer to England and Wales.
Incidents were identified from the NRLS where the incident type related to delay or failure to diagnose or related to problems with tests or scans.
Between October 2005 and September 2006, 433 such incidents were reported.
For the period October 2006 to September 2007 there were 502 cases reported.
Incidents were identified from the NRLS for the most recent two years where the patient was receiving radiotherapy treatment. It is important to note that the incidents identified will have resulted from a range of factors and may not be directly related to radiotherapy treatment.
Between October 2005 and September 2006, 1,468 such incidents were reported. Between October 2006 and September 2007 there were 1,854 cases reported.
Incidents were identified from the NRLS where the patient was receiving chemotherapy treatment. Cases were identified from drug names used in the incident description or medication fields relating to chemotherapy therapy. It is important to note that the incidents identified will have resulted from a range of factors and may not be directly related to chemotherapy treatment.
Between October 2005 and September 2006 there were 4,942 such incidents reported. For the period October 2006 to September 2007 there were 6,344 cases reported.
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish a report on the outcomes of the National Cancer Peer Review Programme. [175511]
Ann Keen: The report of the 2004-07 round of cancer peer review will be published this year.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional cancer (a) treatment and (b) equipment has been made available to trusts in Redbridge and Waltham Forest since the appointment of his Department's National Cancer Director; and what the involvement was of the National Cancer Director in such provision. [177045]
Ann Keen: Aside from correspondence with the right hon. Member concerning Whipps Cross Hospital, Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, has had no direct involvement with Redbridge and Waltham Forest primary care trusts.
The location and organisation of cancer services are a matter for local decisions.
Cancer: Information
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the proportion of cancer patients who are not given any financial support information in the course of their treatment. [175139]
Ann Keen: The latest assessment of the proportion of cancer patients who were not given any financial support information during the course of their treatment was made by the National Audit Office in their 2005 report, “Tackling Cancer: Improving the Patient Journey”.
Cancer: Medical Treatments
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health from which countries he intends proton therapy for suitable cancers to be commissioned as described on page 61 of his Department’s Cancer Reform Strategy; and what the expected budget for this is in 2008-09. [175124]
Ann Keen: It has not yet been decided from which countries proton therapy will be commissioned. The budget will depend on demand and there is a degree of uncertainly about what that demand will be. However, it is currently estimated that the budget for 2008-09 will need to be in the region of £600,000.
Cancer: Nurses
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer clinical nurse specialists there were (a) of each cancer specification and (b) in each cancer network working in the NHS in (i) 1997, (ii) 2001, (iii) 2005 and (iv) 2007. [175509]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
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