Further to WQ83490, will the Minister outline whether those patients diagnosed with blood cancers and are on watch and wait for treatment are subject to the 62-day target for starting treatment?
I am deeply concerned about the levels of timely access to treatment. I have set cancer recovery as a clear priority in our recovery and planning frameworks for the NHS. I have also released £5 million this year for additional cancer activity and we are investing more again in diagnostic procedures and equipment.
In circumstances where the treating clinicians and patient agree that a watch and wait approach is the preferable course of action, the suspected cancer pathway would be closed. The watch and wait period could be significantly longer than a 62-day waiting time pathway and it would be inappropriate to maintain an open pathway.
The decision to prescribe any medicine is made following individualised discussions between clinicians and patients. Our New Treatment Fund ensures that where medicines including those for the treatment of blood cancer, are recommended either by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) or the All Wales Medicine Strategy Group (AWMSG) they are made routinely available in all appropriate treating centres within 60 days. I am happy to look into any evidence that suggest this is not the case.
The outpatient clinical record for myeloma, HaemBase Cymru, went live on 12 December 2020 in Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board. This work included an electronic health record for haematology that would support clinicians in day-to-day decision making and provide data for analysis. The functionality was designed to work with Cardiff and Vale’s patient administration system. The learning from this work is being used to accelerate the Welsh Government’s £6.5 million investment in a new cancer informatics solution for Wales. This will include digital functionality for the management of multiple cancers, including haematological cancers. The new cancer informatics solution will integrate with health board and national systems to provide an integrated healthcare record.