National Cancer Plan

Ashley Dalton Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

The national cancer plan is published today, World Cancer Day. Building on the foundations set out in the 10-year plan for the NHS, it sets out how we will drive improvements in cancer care across England. One in two people in this country will get cancer in their lifetime, and this plan provides a clear and focused approach to deliver better outcomes for patients, focusing on earlier diagnosis, faster treatment and better survival rates. We will work to end the postcode lottery—everybody should have access to prompt and effective care and treatment no matter where they live or what their background is.

The plan includes actions and commitments which clearly show how we will achieve our goal of 75% of people surviving cancer for five years or more by 2035, making England a world-leader for cancer survival. Actions in the plan will cover a range of areas including:

Improving NHS cancer performance: We are committed to meeting the cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. By March 2029, 80% of patients getting a diagnosis or all-clear within 28 days of an urgent suspected cancer referral (faster diagnosis standard), 85% of patients will start their treatment within 62 days of referral, and 96% of patients will start treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat them. We will increase productivity in diagnostics by using digital pathways and the latest technology, and use innovation to speed up treatment decisions.

Early diagnosis, lung cancer screening and treatment: More people are surviving cancer than ever before, but progress has slowed over the last decade, and England remains behind other comparable countries. We need to catch cancer earlier and faster because we know early diagnosis is key to cancer survival. We will expand screening where evidence supports this—including completing the roll out of lung cancer screening by 2030. In addition, we will continue community testing to identify people at higher risk of cancer including fibro-scans for people with cirrhosis and fatty liver disease, as well as invest in the latest tech and AI to spot cancers earlier. We will also increase access to the best innovative cancer treatments as they become available.

Prevention: Many cancers are preventable, which is why we will stop as many cancers as we can by cracking down on illegal underage sunbed use, eliminating cervical cancer through HPV vaccination, as well as tackling obesity and creating the world’s first smoke-free generation. We will also complete a national roll-out of self-testing to women who have not otherwise taken up the offer for cervical screening by 2029. In addition, we will increase awareness of cancer risk factors, and of cancer symptoms.

Living well: Cancer care will be designed around patients’ lives, with every patient sitting down with their care team and getting a personalised cancer plan and named clinical nurse specialist or other named lead to support them through diagnosis and treatment. By 2028, patients will also be able to manage screening invitations, appointments and treatment plans through the NHS app. We will also move more cancer care out of hospitals and into local neighbourhood settings, with patients getting a named neighbourhood care lead to co-ordinate their care and support after treatment.

Children and young people with cancer and their families will get better support, with a guarantee that travel costs do not leave parents out of pocket and create a barrier to accessing NHS care and providing full wraparound care, including psychological support to children with cancer.

Ending the postcode lottery for cancer care: No matter where people live, they should have access to high-quality, specialist care, and also to all the incredible breakthroughs in cancer care we are seeing through the NHS, such as robotic surgery, using genomic testing to assess risk, create targeted treatments, and replace invasive biopsy with faster blood tests across the country.

Inequalities: We will tackle inequalities in cancer mortality. Some places in England, including Blackpool, Knowsley and Kingston upon Hull have an age-standardised premature cancer mortality rate twice as high as the best-performing area. People from poorer parts of the country are more likely to be diagnosed late and less likely to get the best care, while people with disabilities, LGBT+ people, and people from some ethnic groups are less likely to access screening and clinical trials. Solving this is a priority for this plan.

Research and innovation: We will provide strategic leadership across the lifetime of the plan to ensure we are world leaders in cancer research and innovation. Our priorities for research are aimed at increasing cancer survival, as well as achieving better performance and providing excellent quality of life. We will speed up implementation of technology proven to improve cancer outcomes, as well as accelerating access to new tech via our new national HealthTech access programme. We will also establish a cancer trials accelerator programme to increase the speed, scale and reliability of cancer clinical trials—more broadly we will make cancer trials more accessible by making it easier for people to join them locally, for example via their own GP.

Rare cancers: Patients with rare cancers will also benefit from a move to specialist multidisciplinary teams, that cover multiple providers. This will allow them to benefit from the input of specialist centres and so access to the best evidence-based care. We will reduce the number of rare cancers, including brain tumours, being diagnosed in emergency settings. To hold us accountable, and to marshal progress, we will designate a new national lead for rare cancers with a mandate to provide clinical advice and support delivery of these goals.

This plan was developed in partnership with cancer charities, clinicians and most importantly patients who have shared their own experiences. Our call for evidence received over 11,000 responses, and the main messages we heard were that patients want quicker diagnosis; to know they are being offered the latest and most innovative treatment backed by the latest research; and to be supported to live well with cancer. Our plan sets out how we will deliver these improvements.

The national cancer plan will provide a basis for England being a world leader in cancer survival and improving quality of life for those with cancer in this country over the next decade. By focusing on patients and what they need, we can build on improvements of recent years and capitalise on new innovations to allow more people to survive cancer.

[HCWS1306]