Pancreatic Cancer Action Join Call to Conservative Leadership Candidates to Commit to 10-Year Cancer Plan

Pancreatic Cancer Action was one of more than 50 charities that urged Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to take bold action to improve cancer survival and the outcomes in the UK. The call came to drive forward the change in patients, practitioners and researchers to deliver on the promised world-leading cancer outcomes for families in this country.

So far, the issue of health care, the NHS nor reducing cancer rates have been mentioned by any of the candidates vying to be the next Prime Minister. Big problems, such as the record high waiting times, chronic workforce shortages and the inability for many to simply get an appointment with their GP has been overlooked. Sadly, cancer won’t wait, which is why we need the next Prime Minister to have the NHS and cancer at the top of their agenda.

This should be delivered by starting with the 10-Year Cancer Plan, which was originally due to be published this July. The coalition called upon the MPs to recommit to the publication of the plan and to work with all the charities to ensure it is:

• Fit for the future, fit for patients: This plan must set bold and stretching targets to achieve what really matters to people affected by cancer in the next decade, for example, by ensuring 78% of people are diagnosed at stage one or stage two and a 95% Faster Diagnosis Standard is met.
• Visionary and achievable: A transformative plan will harness the power of the UK’s world-beating research and innovation to improve outcomes, patient experience and tackle health inequalities head-on. It would publicly announce objectives, set timelines and match them with smart investment, helping to boost the economy.
• A roadmap to solve cancer staff shortages: The plan must set out targeted funding to grow the cancer workforce to meet current and future demand to tackle backlogs, make more time for patients and drive innovation. It needs robust workforce modelling for the lifetime of the plan, matched by investment for at least the lifetime of the current Spending Review.

We are requesting a meeting with Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to share our evidence and expertise and help them seize this opportunity to make the next 10-years transformative ones for cancer care.

You can read the full letter to Rishi Sunak & Liz Truss here. The full 10-Year Cancer Plan consensus and the ten important tests for actions on cancer can be read here.