End the Capacity Crisis

Thousands of patients, NHS staff, campaigners, Members of Parliament and people with loved ones affected by bowel cancer have shown their support for our Capacity Crisis campaign. Here are just a few reasons the bowel cancer community has come together to call for a fully funded action plan to tackle NHS staff shortages in services that work to diagnose the disease.

Read our open letter calling for an end to the Capacity Crisis sent to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Health ahead of the Government budget.

Now is a critical time to tackle these NHS staff shortages. The budget guaranteed the much-needed extra £20bn for the NHS. This is positive, but it doesn't go far enough. This money may not be sufficient to meet the bold ambitions set out for cancer by the Government. It also excludes Health Education England’s (HEE) budget, which has previously been cut. HEE is responsible for ensuring that the NHS has the right numbers of staff and skills, so it is vital that funding is allocated to HEE to tackle staff shortages.

The NHS 10 Year Plan is a critical opportunity to respond to questions not answered in the budget. The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, must finally get to grips with tackling this problem and address the workforce capacity crisis as part of the eagerly awaited plan. Over the next month we’ll be working to make sure this problem is not ignored.

• To keep up to date on the campaign, sign up to become acampaign supporter.
• Let’s end the #CapacityCrisis. Read our open letter to the Government. 
• Read our blog on the priorities for bowel cancer in the 10 year plan