Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill

Damian Hinds Excerpts

Friday 13th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)]

I thank and commend the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for bringing the Bill to the Floor of the House and for his powerful personal testimony. We have already heard, and I think we will hear more, personal testimonies from colleagues across the House. It was a particular privilege to be here for the speech of the hon. Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher).

About a month ago, the hon. Member for Wokingham and I were both at a breast cancer campaign event at which one of the themes was inequalities in breast cancer care, particularly among under-represented communities, secondary breast cancer patients and men. It was good to hear from him on that occasion. He draws on his experience to contribute effectively to raising awareness about breast cancer in men and—as he is doing today—all cancers and the issues around them.

There were a number of important initiatives under the last Government, including the use of community diagnostic centres; the introduction of the lung health screening programme, which subsequently expanded to become the national lung cancer screening programme; the major clinical trial, initiated with Prostate Cancer UK, on testing screening approaches for detecting prostate cancer; and the launch in February 2024 of the children and young people’s cancer taskforce. As the hon. Member for Erewash (Adam Thompson) says, few things can unite this House as strongly as the fight against cancer. When the national cancer plan was published in February 2026, the Opposition welcomed its aims to improve survival and outcomes.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

The shadow Minister and I share a university hospital. Although the targets are woefully out, does he agree that it is not because of the staff? Will he join me in thanking ward matrons Gavin Foley and Rachael Hunter, who do a fantastic job supporting our cancer patients?

[Damian Hinds]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for the opportunity to express thanks and appreciation, as she has done. She is right that we happen to share a hospital, and it provides fantastic care for so many of my constituents.

When the national cancer plan was published, the then shadow Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew), raised questions about how its ambitions would be realised. He called for a

“fully funded long-term workforce plan”

alongside

“clear, funded milestones showing how and when patients will see improvements”.—[Official Report, 5 February 2026; Vol. 780, c. 455.]

The focus needs to be on that plan.

Yesterday, we saw the most recent performance statistics from the national health service. It was a difficult set of statistics overall, and cancer standards, by all three measures—the faster diagnosis standard, the 31-day treatment standard and the 62-day treatment standard—had deteriorated month on month. Cancer Research UK’s analysis shows a discrepancy in diagnosis time between those who are ultimately found to be clear of cancer and those who have cancer; it rightly calls for particular analysis of that point. Its analysis also shows that breast cancer referrals had the biggest drop in performance among those who went on to be diagnosed with cancer.

The hon. Member for Wokingham is absolutely right that Ministers need to focus on the entire pathway, from risk factors such as smoking and obesity to waiting times, children and young people’s cancer screening, investment in research and key metrics around earlier diagnosis. The key thing, as I know he agrees, is to get all those things done and to make real progress.

Time is short, Madam Deputy Speaker, and we need to hear from the Minister about how she can reassure the hon. Gentleman and the House on those points. I hope that she will also update us on the long-awaited health workforce plan, which underpins so many aspects of the NHS. I commend the hon. Gentleman for all he has done and is doing, and for bringing the matter before the House today.