Written question WQ88536
- Asked by
- Joel JamesConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Health and Social Services
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 6 days
Question
What steps is the Welsh Government taking to improve (a) earlier diagnosis, (b) treatment outcomes and (c) survival for liver cancer as one of the less survivable cancers?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Health and Social Services
The Welsh Government’s approach to improving cancer outcomes is set out at:
The quality statement for cancer [HTML] | GOV.WALES
This approach includes the development of a national clinical pathway for liver cancer to guide NHS planning:
executive.nhs.wales/networks/wales-cancer-network/wcn-documents/clinician-hub/csg-pathways-and-associated-documents/ugi-liver-nop-pdf/
The NHS response to the Quality Statement is set out at:
executive.nhs.wales/networks/wales-cancer-network/cancer-improvement-plan-docs/full-plan/
This Cancer Improvement Plan recognises the issue of less survivable cancers and specifically refers to liver cancer. In particular, the issue of emergency diagnosis and the importance of developing acute oncology services to meet this need.
You may also wish to be aware that the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee commissions liver surgery and a number of advanced radiotherapy techniques for liver cancer.
The commissioning policies can be found at:
whssc.nhs.wales/commissioning/whssc-policies/cancer/hepatobiliary-surgery-service-specification-cp73-november-2021/
whssc.nhs.wales/commissioning/whssc-policies/cancer/stereotactic-ablative-radiotherapy-sabr-for-patients-with-hepatocellular-carcinoma-hcc-adults-commissioning-policy-cp124-december-2021/
whssc.nhs.wales/commissioning/whssc-policies/cancer/selective-internal-radiation-therapies-sirt-for-treating-adults-with-hepatocellular-carcinoma-policy-position-statement-pp227-november-2021/