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Three in four cancer patients in England will beat cancer under government plans to raise survival rates, as figures reveal someone is now diagnosed every 75 seconds in the UK.
Cancer is the country’s biggest killer, causing about one in four deaths, and survival rates lag behind several European countries, including Romania and Poland. Three-quarters of NHS hospital trusts are failing cancer patients, a Guardian analysis found last year, prompting experts to declare a “national emergency”.
In a new plan to be published on Wednesday, ministers will pledge £2bn to resolve the crisis by transforming cancer services, with millions of patients promised faster diagnoses, quicker treatment and more support to live well.
Some cancer performance targets have not been met by the NHS since 2015. Under the national cancer plan, all three waiting times standards will be met by 2029, ministers will announce.
And, for the first time, the government will commit to ensuring that, from 2035, 75% of patients will be either cancer-free or living well, which means a normal life with the disease under control five years after being diagnosed. Currently, six in 10 survive five years or more.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), this would mean 320,000 more lives saved over the 10-year plan.
The strategy, which cancer charities and health groups have repeatedly demanded for years, is much needed. A Macmillan Cancer Support report, also due to be published on Wednesday, shows just how common the disease has become. On average, about 1,200 people are now diagnosed every day in the UK or one person every 75 seconds.
The health secretary, Wes Streeting, who revealed in 2021 that he had been diagnosed with and treated for kidney cancer at the age of 38, said: “As a cancer survivor who owes my life to the NHS, I owe it to future patients to make sure they receive the same outstanding care I did.”
Cancer was “more likely to be a death sentence in Britain than other countries around the world”, he said, but he was determined to change that. “Thanks to the revolution in medical science and technology, we have the opportunity to transform the life chances of cancer patients,” he added.
“Our cancer plan will invest in and modernise the NHS, so that opportunity can be seized and our ambitions realised. This plan will slash waits, invest in cutting-edge technology, and give every patient the best possible chance of beating cancer.”
According to DHSC officials, the plan will include a £2.3bn investment to deliver 9.5m more tests by 2029, investing in more scanners, digital technology and automated testing.
Some community diagnostic centres will also operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week. And the number of robot-assisted procedures will increase from 70,000 to half a million by 2035, reducing complications and freeing up more beds.
Every patient who might benefit will also be offered a genomic test that analyses the DNA of their cancer with the aim of finding the right treatment, the Guardian has been told.
Prof Peter Johnson, the NHS clinical director for cancer, said: “This plan sets a clear roadmap for the NHS to diagnose more cancers earlier, ensure more patients are treated on time and improve survival, so that hundreds of thousands more people live longer, healthier lives with or after cancer over the next decade.”
Michelle Mitchell, the chief executive of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), welcomed the plan as she warned that “too many cancer patients” were still waiting too long to start treatment. “England lags behind comparable countries on cancer survival and it’s vital that this changes, so more people affected by cancer can live longer, better lives,” she said.
Sarah Woolnough, the chief executive of the King’s Fund health thinktank and a former executive director of CRUK, was sceptical about the chances of success.
While welcoming what she called a “bold” and “ambitious” plan, ministers must be careful not to “put the cart before the horse” and ensure they also delivered basic cancer care swiftly too, she said.
“Many hospitals still cannot share imaging or pathology results in a timely way due to old technology holding them back. Addressing this needs to receive as much focus as rolling out major new AI projects,” she added.
There were also questions to be asked about the feasibility of the pledge to hit all three main cancer standards.
“The system as it stands will not meet the cancer treatment standards by 2029 unless there is a big step-change,” Woolnough said. “The government will need to show it has the answers if it is to achieve its aim of transforming cancer treatment, boosting survival rates and improving quality of life.”
