Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill

Vikki Slade Excerpts

Friday 13th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I will do my best to stick to that time, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for introducing this Bill on behalf of all those in our communities who are living with cancer, like my dad Ray Walls, who has stage 4 metastasized prostate cancer but is refusing to let his prognosis reduce his approach to life, grabbing each day, and tiring us all out with his energy, sporting prowess and positivity. He is truly standing up to cancer.

The Bill is also for those of us who are likely to be given the news that we have cancer. This impacts every family, and an annual report will ensure that it remains at the front of the minds of Ministers and civil servants, hold them to account to improve outcomes, and give hope to those who see improvements on the horizon but worry they will be denied access to treatments that buy them more time.

I want to talk to the issue of survival rates, as mentioned in clause 1(2), and the work of the national cancer audits. Although I of course strongly welcome the strategy, and the expanded national cancer audits, there appears to be a gap in the stated aims in relation to emerging treatments that are available elsewhere in the world but are not being fast-tracked here. My constituents Nigel, Lara and Sandra are just three of the many who have been denied access to emerging treatments, despite in some cases having been given them on a limited basis in ongoing trials. I am talking about situations in which young parents or much-loved mothers are willing to accept the risks to their own health or capacity to manage their symptoms to give them more time with their families, and to help to make progress on a widely used cure for second or third-degree cancers, or those that are so rare that there are no active UK trials.

Nigel has stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and has explained to me that when the second-line chemotherapy stops working, he will have no UK options left. He explained to me that this summer the Food and Drug Administration in America approved for use a drug called daraxonrasib, but the projected timeline for UK approval is 2028. He said:

“I will be dead by then.”

He explained that his children are now looking at how they can raise funds to send their dad to America, and asked me why the UK cannot create a rapid pathway, with waivers signed by people willing to take the risk. After all, their alternative is certain death.

Lara has an eye cancer that has led to tumours in her liver. Although the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recognises that there is a significant unmet need for patients, given that this is a typical presentation for her condition, patients can only access chemosat under special arrangements. Lara knows that our attempts to help her will probably come too late, but if we ensure that a plan must be published for progress across a range of rare cancers, research and survival rates, we can at least offer hope to those who come after her.

Sandra and her family face the same issue. Her cancer has spread to her kidneys. The treatment enfortumab, which has been available in the US for years, was finally approved for NHS use this summer. Imagine the family’s joy, having spent thousands of pounds a week to keep her on the treatment for many, many months. But her daughter told me:

“I am totally aghast that something finally available, which is potentially my mum’s last remaining option, is only available for first-line treatment despite having been successful on her third-line cancer.”

The family are now considering selling the family home to fund treatment. This is just ridiculous. I urge the Minister to look at bringing in measures so that we can reassure our residents and families that progress is being monitored, and so they can see, year on year, the goal getting closer.

May I send Nigel, Lara and Sandra my best wishes? I know that colleagues throughout the Chamber will have similar stories, and that the experience of my constituents is not unique. That is why it is so important to accept the need for a report every year that sets out metrics against the plan and details the investment in research. The Government have made a great start with the strategy, but without a mechanism to report on it annually, there is a risk of drift, and of a future Government deprioritising it or changing direction. I urge the Government to support the Bill.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

If only we had a pharmacist in the Chamber who could help with pronunciations.