Labour has announced a comprehensive plan aimed at ending the crisis in cancer care and ensuring timely treatment for patients across the UK, should they win the next general election.
This promise comes in response to projections that under another Conservative government term, around 700,000 cancer patients could face extended waits for essential treatment.
NHS targets for cancer treatment have consistently been missed, with over 102,000 patients waiting longer than two months following an urgent referral last year alone.
The NHS aims to treat cancer patients within two months of an urgent referral for treatment, but the target hasn’t been met under the Conservatives since 2015.
That includes Nathaniel Dye, a terminal bowel cancer patient who spoke at the launch of Labour’s manifesto this week. He waited over 100 days to start treatment, by which time his cancer was terminal.
Labour’s plan to catch cancer on time includes:
• Delivering an extra 40,000 appointments, tests and scans a week at evenings and weekends
• Doubling the number of CT & MRI scanners, with new, AI-enabled scanners.
• The biggest expansion of NHS staff in history
• Using spare capacity in the private sector to get patients diagnosed faster
• Introducing a progressive ban on smoking, so this generation of young people can never legally smoke.
Labour’s strategy includes ambitious measures such as delivering an additional 40,000 appointments, tests, and scans weekly, extending services into evenings and weekends.
They also plan to double the number of CT and MRI scanners, incorporating new technology to expedite diagnoses. The proposal marks the largest expansion of NHS staff in history and proposes leveraging spare capacity in the private sector to accelerate diagnosis.
Furthermore, Labour aims to implement a progressive smoking ban to reduce cancer risk among younger generations, alongside robust funding measures. Wes Streeting, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, stressed the urgency of their plan, stating, “The earlier cancer is detected, the better the chances of survival.
“Having gone through treatment for kidney cancer, I know that the earlier cancer is caught, the better chance of survival.
“Labour’s fully-funded and fully-costed plan will catch cancer on time, diagnosing earlier and treating it faster to save lives. We will also prevent cancer in the first place, passing a progressive ban on tobacco so young people today are even less likely to smoke than they are to vote Tory.”
