Wes Streeting could revive the use of a specific cancer strategy to tackle Britain’s second biggest killer, after experts warned its scrapping by the Conservatives was “a disaster” for patients.
The Health Secretary is considering publishing a new comprehensive plan for England, amid record numbers of people diagnosed with the disease and NHS cancer services struggling to meet demand.
The previous Labor and Tory governments published four cancer-specific action plans between 2000 and 2015 and these helped deliver improvements in treatment, waiting times and survival.
However, in January last year, Steve Barclay, then Health Secretary, caused a stir among specialists in the disease and charities such as Cancer Research UK when he announced plans to boost cancer care were included in a much broader strategy for important circumstances.
They warned of a disease kills 167,000 people a year in Britain would not receive the attention it deserves if it was part of a document that also covered heart disease, mental illness, dementia, lung health and joint problems.
But Streeting – himself a kidney cancer survivor – examines the case for republishing a specific plan that would address issues such as long wait times for care, the lack of staff in primary cancer services and how patients can best access emerging treatments.
“We are certainly thinking about it,” said a Whitehall source. “He thinks about it honestly and believes that having that focus on one of our biggest killers was successful under the last Labor government.”
Cancer experts are increasingly optimistic that Streeting will have a new plan drawn up.
Prof. Mark Lawler, a cancer expert at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “I am confident, given the overwhelming evidence and indications from the new government, that the Health Secretary will reverse the previous government’s inexplicable decision and introduce a national cancer plan will be reintroduced. ”
Prof Pat Price, a leading oncologist and co-founder of the Catch Up With Cancer campaign, said: “The new government has inherited a colossal cancer crisis. The previous government’s decision to scrap the cancer plan was a disaster for cancer patients.
“All international evidence indicates that having a consistent cancer plan leads to better cancer survival.”
Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, said cancer is “the defining health problem of our time” as one in two Britons will be affected by it in their lifetime.
“We know that other countries that have long-term cancer strategies with strong political support have seen greater improvements in survival rates, and are better at diagnosing them at an earlier stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful.
“Long-term planning is vital to improving outcomes for cancer patients across England, together with reform and funding for the NHS.”
It promised strategy for important circumstances for England was never published despite Barclay praising it in August 2023 as “a huge opportunity to preserve and protect good health for generations to come. Sources at the Department of Health and Social Care said it has been “put on hold” and their focus is now on the 10-year plan to revive the NHS that Labor has promised and is expected next spring.