The UK Government has published a 10-year national cancer plan that pledges 75% of patients diagnosed from 2035 will be cancer-free or living well after five years. The target represents a significant increase from the current 60% survival rate and aims to save 320,000 more lives over the plan's lifetime.
The plan commits the NHS to meet all its cancer waiting time targets by 2029. Currently, only 70.2% of patients begin treatment within the required 62 days from urgent referral, well short of the national 85% target.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: «Cancer survival shouldn't come down to who won the lottery of life. But cancer is more likely to be a death sentence in Britain than other countries around the world. As a cancer survivor who owes my life to the NHS, I owe it to future patients to make sure they receive the same outstanding care I did.»
The government will invest £2.3 billion to deliver 9.5 million additional tests by 2029. Community Diagnostic Centres will operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week where possible to reduce waiting times.
Robot Surgery and Technology
The plan aims to expand robot-assisted procedures from 70,000 to 500,000 by 2035. The technology cuts complications and frees up hospital beds. Genomic testing will be offered to eligible patients, and specialist cancer centres will treat rarer cancers.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: «This plan sets a clear roadmap for the NHS to diagnose more cancers earlier, ensure more patients are treated on time and improve survival, so that hundreds of thousands more people live longer, healthier lives with or after cancer over the next decade.»
Skepticism Over Feasibility
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called the plan an «unfunded plan – despite its warm promises – won't be anything like enough to restore our broken, overwhelmed cancer services».
Sarah Scobie, Nuffield Trust deputy director of research, highlighted the scale of the challenge. Between April and November last year, there was only a 0.1% improvement in the proportion of patients waiting under 62 days to start cancer treatment. To meet the government's 85% target by March 2029, improvements of almost 0.4% would be needed every single month.
She said: «That would mean the NHS improving at 30 times the rate it has managed since April. This would be an enormous feat to maintain and we are still awaiting details on how it would be funded.»
Cancer charities welcomed the ambition. Gemma Peters, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: «This plan has the potential to transform care for people living with cancer, ensuring people not only live longer but live better with their diagnosis.»
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: «England lags behind comparable countries on cancer survival and it's vital that this changes, so more people affected by cancer can live longer, better lives.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
