Meeting the challenge of cancer
1.16 The NHS has much to be proud of in its cancer services. The testimony of patients to the expertise and dedication of the NHS teams who have cared for them is evidence enough.
1.17 But there are some key challenges that must be met if the NHS is to provide world-class cancer care:
- better prevention
- action on health inequalities
- earlier detection
- faster diagnosis and treatment
- consistent high quality services
- improved quality of life through better care.
1.18 The NHS Plan has set out how a combination of investment and reform can transform the health service. This Cancer Plan sets out what that means for cancer services. The ability of the NHS to modernise and reform its cancer services is a litmus test for the health of the NHS as a whole. This Cancer Plan will mean that over the next five years cancer services in this country will improve faster than anywhere else in Europe.
1.19 So for the first time this Plan provides a comprehensive strategy for bringing together prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and care for cancer and the investment needed to deliver these services in terms of improved staffing, equipment, drug treatments and information systems:
- drive new action to prevent cancer, especially cancers related to smoking and diet, focusing help on socially deprived areas where the incidence is highest
- improve early detection of cancer by expanding the existing cancer screening programmes and introducing new ones which are proven to save lives
- improve public understanding of cancer so that people seek advice sooner if they have symptoms that may suggest cancer
- help GPs and other community healthcare professionals to recognise the symptoms of cancer and to support people at risk of cancer or who are living with cancer
- shorten the time taken to diagnose cancer by streamlining the process of care and investing in more equipment and staff
- reduce waiting times for cancer treatment - recognising the urgency of the condition
- expand and support the cancer workforce in the NHS
- increase spending on drugs and treatment so that all patients receive drugs of proven benefit that they need and can be assured of specialist treatment
- reconfigure services, where this has been shown to improve outcomes
- nsure cancer treatment is consistent across the country by introducing new standards for cancer care and new monitoring arrangements
- ensure patients and their families have better support and information throughout their cancer care
- expand the provision of palliative care
- improve the systems for commissioning and monitoring cancer services
- to prepare for the future through education and research.
