Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Breast Cancer Diagnosis Data

Tuesday 13 April 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service works with hospital trusts to determine data sources for the cancer outcomes and services dataset.
  • Rosie Cooper noted that women with metastatic breast cancer are currently only counted at the time of death despite a 2013 mandate for trusts to collect additional data.
  • The challenge in capturing the required data consistently is acknowledged, with a need to simplify data collection and ensure understanding for both patients and healthcare providers.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Rosie Cooper Lab
NHS
Context

The question stems from the ongoing issue of incomplete and inconsistent data collection for patients with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. This affects patient care, monitoring trends, and evaluating treatment effectiveness.

Question

What proportion of NHS trusts are in compliance with the requirement to collect data on all new diagnoses of recurrent and metastatic breast cancer?

Answer from Jo Churchill

The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service works closely with hospital trusts to determine sources of data that can be used to complete the cancer outcomes and services dataset. It also works with the software suppliers of cancer-management systems to ensure that data items can be recorded. Compliance with data standards is monitored by local CCGs, but I recognise that that is not enough, as data is incomplete after some eight years.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The proportion of NHS trusts in compliance was not provided

How: Not Enough, Data Is Incomplete

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Q2 Rosie Cooper Lab
NHS
Context

Since 2013, it has been mandatory to collect specific data on women with metastatic breast cancer. The issue is that this requirement is not being enforced effectively, leading to incomplete and inconsistent data.

Question

Currently, women with metastatic breast cancer are counted only when they die. That is despite the fact that, since 2013, it has been mandatory for trusts to collect data such as the number of women involved, how long they have survived and whether there are any health inequalities. It cannot be acceptable to count only the dead, not the living. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that the 2013 mandatory requirement to collect data on women with metastatic breast cancer is enforced?

Answer from Jo Churchill

Yes. As I explained in my earlier answer, one of the challenges is that there is not a consistent way of capturing the data. We need to sort that out: we need to make it simple; we need to make people understand what data we are collecting; and we need to make sure that, for both breast cancer patients and all metastatic cancer patients, we know where they are and that we are helping them with this disease as effectively as we can.

Partly answered

Not addressed: No specific commitment was made regarding enforcement of the mandate

How: Not A Consistent Way, Need To Sort Out

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