Last week saw the publication of the National Cancer Plan for England, which sets out how the NHS will deliver world class care and radically improve cancer outcomes over the next decade. The key ambition is that three in every four people diagnosed with cancer in 2035 are cancer-free or living well with cancer after five years.
That means 320,000 extra lives saved, with more people diagnosed earlier and able to access treatment faster. I’ve had the privilege of being the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the plan in my national role with NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care, and I’m really excited about the opportunity we have to bring it to life for our patients and communities here at MFT.
Cancer plan launch webinar slides:
As one of the largest cancer centres in England, we carry out a broad range of cancer care, diagnosing, supporting and treating thousands of people with the condition each year – in fact, MFT receives around 35% of all the cancer referrals made in Greater Manchester. Our teams are already doing some fantastic work, researching and delivering cutting-edge treatments for both children and adults, improving early diagnosis through community screening, and working in partnership to deliver services like the ‘chemotherapy bus’ – allowing children across the North West to receive their treatment without travelling to hospital.
This year, we achieved our highest ever score in the cancer patient experience survey, and Greater Manchester-led innovations like targeted lung health checks are being adopted nationally. There is some genuinely inspiring practice here, and these are just a few examples among many.
Working together, we want 2026 to be a real year of change for cancer care. We are already seeing promising improvement in access times for patients, including on the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which ensures that people have a definitive diagnosis or cancer ruled out within 28 days of an urgent referral. We are also bringing greater rigour to the 62-day target, which aims to ensure that at least 85% of people urgently referred for suspected cancer receive their first treatment within 62 days.
We know that for some cancers this time can make a significant difference in treatment options and survival. Lung cancer, for example, can progress form stage 1 to stage 4 in the space of 62 days. We must do everything we can to give every patient the best possible chance of survival.
I’ve said this before, but whenever we talk about targets or trajectories in the NHS, we are really talking about people and their lives. In a meeting on the cancer plan this week, someone described the 62-day target as ‘not about the 62 days, but the 61 nights in between’ – highlighting those long nights of worry and uncertainty for patients on cancer pathways. This video from Steve Sweeney, who has lived experience of cancer, sets it out powerfully. I know that many of you will also have your own experiences, or those of family, fresh in mind. Cancer touches all our lives in some way, and by aligning our existing ambitions with those of the National Plan, we can make an even greater difference.
I am grateful to the 140 colleagues who joined our Cancer Plan webinar last week, on World Cancer Day, to start the conversation about our response to the plan. The need is pressing – UK cancer outcomes lag behind others in Europe, and here at MFT we diagnose 14% of cancers on an emergency pathway – often at a later stage when treatment options may be more limited.
I’m looking forward to sharing our progress in the months ahead, aligned to the plan’s six themes, which include designing cancer care around people’s lives and improving care for children and young people. Our next steps are to refresh our strategic development plan for cancer before the summer, and we will do this by involving all tumour site teams from April onwards.
Thank you to every colleague for the skill, expertise and compassion you bring to patients and families experiencing cancer. Every element is vital – the clinical expertise and care, our booking clerks and admin teams, our Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) coordinators, our labs and pharmacy teams. Without the entire team, none of it is possible.
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