Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that secondary breast cancer patients have access to a clinical nurse specialist as part of their care.

Jane Ellison

The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July last year, recognising the importance of access to clinical nurse specialists or other key workers for patients with all types of cancer.

NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to implement the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE (Chief Executive of the Royal Marsden) as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. She has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to implement the strategy, which met for the first time on 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.