The Government has today published its National Cancer Plan for England – it is a ten year plan, broadly broken down into two phases:
- For the first half of the plan – leading up to March 2029 – the priority is to meet the Government’s existing cancer waiting times targets, which haven’t been met since 2015. This would mean:
- 80% of patients getting a diagnosis or an all-clear within 28 days of an urgent suspected cancer referral
- 85% of patients starting treatment within 62 days of referral
- 96% of patients starting treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat
- 98% of histopathology test results being returned within 10 days
- In the second half of the plan – leading up to 2035 – the focus is on improving survival outcomes, with a new target of 75% of people being cancer-free or living well with cancer 5 years after diagnosis.
Meeting these targets will be a real challenge, as performance is still well below target in all areas. The Government acknowledges that it will need to deliver millions more diagnostic tests, tens of thousands more treatments and procedures, and invest significantly in infrastructure, equipment and staffing. Some of the Government’s plans are laid out explicitly in the plan, but some of the progress needed will be contingent on broader reform in the health service. For cancer specifically, some of the pledges today include:
- £2.3bn investment into Community Diagnostic Centres – including building new centres, expanding 30 existing centres, and ensuring that all centres are open 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.
- £604m capital investment in digital diagnostics and £96m to automate histopathology processing and reporting
- £80m for 4 new aseptic medicines production hubs by 2027 to increase capacity to produce cancer drugs that require sterile environments
- The Royal College of Radiologists has been commissioned to review MDT meetings, reporting by this Summer, with new guidance to follow in Spring 2027.
- Cancer Alliances will get £200m in 2026/27 to distribute to Trusts for sustainable improvements to cancer delivery
The Government has also set out how it thinks cancer care will look by the end of the next 10 years:
- Many cancer services will be integrated into the NHS App – meaning you can request appointments, scans, and advice digitally. You will be able to see information about your treatments, your personal cancer risks, and you will be able to give real-time feedback on your treatment.
- The Government will publish new ‘cancer manuals’ starting in 2027. These will be digital tools designed for use in real-world clinical settings to enable staff to ensure they are providing the highest-quality care. The initial focus will be on the most common cancers and less survivable cancers.
- More of your treatment will take place in the community – you will have a named clinical nurse specialist or equivalent, and a named neighbourhood care lead who will coordinate your care and be available for advice and support through the NHS App and over the phone.
- More complex oncology services will be shifted into a smaller number of specialist centres – we know that centres that conduct at least 20 radical cystectomies per year have better outcomes for patients, so this could improve bladder cancer care. However, we wouldn’t want to see people having to travel huge distances for care.
There is an ambition for cancer care to become more person-centred and tailored around patients’ lives:
- From 2026, all patients will be offered a personalised needs assessment at the point of diagnosis so that psychosocial, financial and other support needs are considered at the same time as treatment is being planned.
- Patients will receive a co-produced summary of their treatment at the end of treatment, including details of ongoing monitoring and where to go to get support after treatment ends.
- Integrated Care Boards will have to consider the effect of cancer treatment on a person’s finances from 2028 – ensuring that people are supported to work during their treatment if they want to and are supported to return to the workforce after treatment too.
- A new programme called Diagnosis Connect will enable referral from the NHS to trusted charities and support organisations at the point of diagnosis.
Broadly, I’m pleased with the broad strokes of this plan. It is extremely ambitious, but there is some money behind some of the measures it announces. There are genuinely bold and interesting ideas about how cancer care can be more timely, more accessible, and more integrated into a patient’s life. I am concerned that a focus on common and rare cancers in the plan might leave the less common cancers such as bladder cancer under-prioritised. My next steps will be to clarify a couple of points with DHSC and to continue to monitor the work of the Government as they seek to implement this plan – ensuring that if we have concerns that people with bladder cancer are being left behind, we advocate on their behalf.
If you have any questions or want to discuss any parts of the plan in more detail, please let me know. There is much more in the plan than I’ve included above, but I wanted to pull out the most important points and the ones that are most relevant to bladder cancer.
by Lewis Scott our Health Policy & Projects Manager