Northern Cancer Alliance welcomes National Cancer Plan

Northern Cancer Alliance (NCA) has today welcomed the publication of the National Cancer Plan which sets out a long-term approach to improving cancer outcomes, experience and equity over the next decade.

Shaped by lived experience, it focuses on earlier diagnosis, improved performance, better quality of life and reducing inequalities.

The plan embeds the three shifts – hospital to community, treatment to prevention and analogue to digital – and new care model from the 10 Year Health Plan into cancer pathways.

The central ambition is that by 2035, three in four people diagnosed with cancer will be cancer-free, or living well with cancer after five years, delivering the fastest improvement in cancer survival this century.

Alison Featherstone, Managing Director of NCA, said: “We welcome the publication of the National Cancer Plan to support, and inform, our work with partners to improve cancer care across the North East and North Cumbria.

“Earlier diagnosis already forms the cornerstone of our activity and we will continue our efforts to increase screening uptake and symptom awareness, particularly in our underserved communities to narrow health inequalities.

“We embrace the crucial role innovation has in this journey. Alongside supporting the use of cutting-edge robotic technology in our trusts, we, in partnership with Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria (HI NENC), fund several innovative pilot projects which are pushing boundaries in faster diagnosis and have the potential to be scaled up.

“Much of our work focuses on helping people to live well with and beyond cancer and we have a long history of collaborating with the voluntary and community sector to deliver health and wellbeing support outside of a hospital setting in neighbourhoods.

“We also welcome that the plan strengthens the role of cancer alliance in delivering this ambition. As system leaders, we remain committed to working with all our partners and communities to help ensure that people living with cancer in our region have the best possible treatment and quality of life.”

Dr Stephen Lynn, Commercial Associate Director for HI NENC, said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with NCA to harness innovation to cancer care across the North East and North Cumbria, delivering on the ambition of the National Cancer Plan.

“By supporting these pioneering projects, we are helping to detect and diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage, improve patient outcomes and ensure care reaches communities where it is needed most.”

Find out more about the innovative projects

The plan is shaped through extensive engagement with patients, partners and professionals, and details how the Government will fully modernise its approach to cancer care in England, propelling the country to be a genuine global leader in cancer outcomes.

The plan states how it will improve performance to meet the Cancer Waiting Time standards by the end of this Parliament.