National Cancer Plan

Lord Patel Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am grateful for the noble Lord’s support for the cancer plan. I should have mentioned this. I will be honest: even as a Minister, I do not always pay full attention to the foreword, and I am sure that other former Ministers might share that, within a plan, but I commend this one to noble Lords, not least because the Secretary of State himself talked about his own experience of being told he had kidney cancer. He described his world being turned upside down. He talked about fear and foreboding, as does our Minister, Ashley Dalton MP. They both talked about fear and foreboding and the need to turn that round with action. That kind of drive, as well as the facts before us, drive this plan.

On the point about a cancer prevention plan and the question of where the strategy is for the reduction of obesity and so on, I say that this is a plan to be read alongside our other commitments. It builds on the 10-year health plan, which laid out the way we would be going forward with our shifts. This is about turning round the whole cancer pathway.

To the point specifically about prevention, I heard what the noble Lord said. We do not take the view that it is “just bad luck”. Where there is prevention, we should absolutely tackle that.

The plan tackles the causes head-on, not just by talking but with government action to cut smoking with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, reduce obesity, act on alcohol harm and protect people from dangerous UV exposure, including through sunbeds. No one should lose someone to cancer that should have been prevented. We will not ignore the communities that are hit hardest. By having those preventions, we are supporting the communities that are hit hardest. Rolling out lung cancer screening more extensively will be one of the areas of importance.

I referred earlier to cancer alliances. They will promote, for example, new catch-up schemes to enable young people who have missed out on the HPV vaccination at school. They can have it administered at their local pharmacy. We are not leaving matters to chance. We are rolling out home testing kits for cervical cancer for those who do not go to appointments for a range of reasons, rather than offering only one opportunity.

In all these ways, the national cancer plan tackles the causes of cancer. We will continue to see that through. As the noble Lord knows, moving from sickness to prevention is a key factor in our 10-year plan.

[Lord Patel (CB)]

My Lords, I too support the national cancer plan, but I am not here to blow the Government’s trumpet. I will pick up on some of the points.

This is an ambitious plan, and that is good, because it might act as a catalyst for some progress. However, if that progress is to be achieved, the Government need to commit much more than what the cancer plan suggests. The plan suggests:

“Every patient will get a personalised assessment of their needs and a personal cancer plan—a complete support plan complementing their diagnosis and treatment”


and focusing on their wider needs. It goes on to say:

“Every patient will have a named neighbourhood care lead to coordinate their care and support after treatment”.


If that can be achieved, it will be fantastic. Apart from all the technological advances that we will have to fund in research terms, it is ambitious to suggest that liquid blood tests and cancer vaccines could be developed, be tested and be available tomorrow. It could be a long-term shot. Without investment, that will not happen. One of the key areas of deficiency is that there is nothing on what the manpower requirements would be and how this will fit into the manpower plan that the Government already have.

I heard what the Minister said about prevention. I heard nothing about developing cancer centres; we know from experience that outcomes are best when patients are treated in cancer centres, rather than in every hospital in the country. We have no targets to eliminate cancer. For example, it is possible to eliminate cervical cancer by a proper immunisation programme of HPV vaccines.

I am allowed only to ask questions, but it would be nice to have a longer debate. We never had one on the national health plan either. I hope that could be managed somehow.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

That last point will, of course, be drawn to the attention of the usual channels. I too would welcome a debate on this. Noble Lords might wish to note that when they have an opportunity to suggest or apply for debates.

The noble Lord’s last point was about elimination of cancer. That is possible in some cases. I am glad that he mentioned cervical cancer. I mentioned in my answer to the noble Lord, Lord Bethell, that we have committed to catch-up HPV vaccination campaigns from this year, to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. That is absolutely the right thing to do, and to introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which I hope will become an Act, to phase out smoking and reduce youth vaping, which can be a gateway to smoking. That will also reduce risk factors.

The noble Lord, Lord Patel, is always right to press us to go further. I understand that. This is a plan for the long term but with staging posts along the way. We have already made progress. For example, I was very pleased when we announced a trial called EDITH for breast cancer screening, to harness the benefits of AI, working with operatives for sped up and more accurate diagnoses. This is one example and is to the point that the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, raised about AI.

I hear what the noble Lord says about cancer centres. We are seeking to move treatment and diagnosis from hospitals to community. That is one model, but there are others, as the noble Lord would acknowledge. It is right to push us to go further, but what sets this plan apart is not just its level of ambition and its recognition that all is not right in the world but that it is setting out how we will get there. However, I welcome the transparency and leadership which is attached to this—which noble Lords have called for. This plan merits a lot of attention and support. I shall be pleased to discuss it in this Chamber further.