Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage international collaboration in research and the sharing of best practice on quality of life for patients diagnosed with brain tumours.
Jane Ellison
NHS England has made a recent assessment of the sufficiency of access to information about support and services for people diagnosed with a brain tumour through its Peer Review Programme (PRP). This programme includes measures that require all brain and central nervous system multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to demonstrate the availability and adequacy of patient information. The outcome of the 2013-14 assessment of compliance with these measures indicated that out of 91 MDTs and 36 treatment centres, 84% were compliant with the patient information measure at the most robust level.
There is a programme of work aimed at improving the care and experience of people living with a diagnosis of cancer, developed in collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support which draws from a wide range of evidence based good practice.
The National Cancer Intelligence Network runs a brain and central nervous system- related cancers Clinical Reference Group, which works closely with a brain cancer charities. In addition to this, the PRP measures participation in drug trials and research internationally.
The Department works closely with its cancer research funding partners through the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). The NCRI is a strategic partnership of 22 government, charity and industry cancer research funders, together with patients. The NCRI is a member of the International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP), which includes cancer research funders from USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia. The ICRP is a unique alliance of cancer organisations working together to enhance global collaboration and strategic coordination of research. Researchers can search the ICRP database to avoid duplication and identify collaborators in specific areas of cancer research including brain tumour research.
