David Heyes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Heyes on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Public Health England over a possible nationawide roll-out of the recent Be Clear on Cancer pilot study for oesophago-gastric cancer in the North East.

Jane Ellison

We want to lead the world in cancer care and are investing over £750 million, over four years up till 2014-15, including £450 million in the early diagnosis of cancer, including oesophago-gastric cancers.

The earlier diagnosis money is designed to support earlier diagnosis of cancer by improving public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms through centrally funded Be Clear on Cancer campaigns; increasing general practitioner access to key diagnostic tests; and, to pay for extra testing and treatment in secondary care.

Be Clear on Cancercampaigns are tested at a local and regional level, before a decision is taken on whether to run them nationally throughout England. Following a local pilot which ran from April to July 2012, we ran a regional Be Clear on Cancer pilot campaign from 10 February to 9 March 2014 raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of oesophago-gastric cancer in the North East and North Cumbria. The campaign included television, radio, press and outdoor advertising. The findings of this pilot are being evaluated by Public Health England, who works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals, before a decision is taken on whether to roll out the campaign nationally throughout England.