To ask the Minister of Health to detail what plans he has to introduce cancer prehabilitation programmes into all Health and Social Care Trusts.

There is a growing evidence base to suggest that prehabilitation (i.e. multiprofessional interventions ahead of treatment) can lead to reduced length of stay, reduced complications of treatment, improved patient experience and outcomes over the long-term. The commissioning of prehabilitation services across the region is a priority and as such is identified as a key action within the Cancer Strategy (Action 17).

While there have been no prehabilitation services commissioned to date, there are a number of pilots ongoing at trust level.

As part of strategy implementation, Macmillan Cancer Support is supporting the development of a new post within the Northern Ireland Cancer Network, the Regional Patient Pathway Integration Lead (currently recruiting – hope to have in post by the new year). Macmillan has also invested in prehabilitation leads in each trust (all to be in post by the new year). These posts will work with the regional lead to engage with stakeholders, including patients, to shape the development of prehabilitation services in Northern Ireland. The regional lead will:

scope current trust pilots to understand what is currently available and to identify the regional learning;

to work across the professional groups to agree the appropriate model for provision in Northern Ireland and to understand how this might be prioritised and phased; and

to develop a clear understanding of the what is required to support the development of regional prehabilitation services in terms of pathway development, changes to current working practices, governance, workforce and funding.

This work will allow wider engagement on the issue and importantly will provide a roadmap and plan for the delivery of services within Northern Ireland. That plan will allow us to understand what opportunities there may be to provide services within existing resources and to inform how we might prioritise future funding that may be made available to support strategy implementation.