John Baron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on establishing cancer clinical alliances; and what the function of those alliances will be.

Jane Ellison

Forming cancer alliances to drive and support improvement and care pathways was a key recommendation of the independent Cancer Taskforce report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015. NHS England appointed Cally Palmer CBE as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation of the strategy and she has since established a new cross-system Cancer Transformation Board, 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. NHS England is currently working with national, regional and local partners to develop the model for cancer alliances, building on the successes of existing clinical networks.