Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 23 October 2019.
Thank you. We have an absolute commitment in Wales to the provision of recommended and proven effective cancer treatments. This is achieved through the new treatment fund for medicines. By August of this year the new treatment fund had provided rapid access to 205 medicines, including 86 for cancer, and has cut the time it takes to provide newly-recommended medicines from an average of 90 days to just 12. Whilst there is much focus on new drugs, it is also worth recalling that surgery can be curative as a treatment for cancer. That is often not highlighted within this Chamber. That's why we continue to invest in both improvements in surgery as well, of course, as therapy provision.