Government progress against commitments to improve cancer services in England 'requires improvement'

A new report published today (Thursday 31 March) by the Health Select Committee has found that progress against five of the Government's policy commitments for cancer services in England were rated inadequate or requires improvements.

The Health Select Committee asked an expert panel of clinical and policy experts to evaluate the Government's progress against commitments to:

• expand capacity and skills in the cancer workforce by 2021
• meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard ensuring 75% of patients are diagnosed within 28 days of referral from their GP or after screening
• ensure 75% of cancer patients are diagnosed at stages 1 and 2
• ensure by 2021, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care
• safer and more precise treatments including immunotherapies
  
  

The main concern raised was the number of people who have gone undiagnosed during the COVID-19 pandemic, who may now present with advanced staged cancers, which may be difficult to treat. These patients are accessing cancer services with significant backlogs, leading to longer waiting times and potentially poorer outcomes.

There was agreement that workforce shortages are seriously undermining achievements across all Government commitments. The report highlighted that the workforce growth ambition set by the Government 'fell woefully short of the demand on the ground', while long-standing workforce issues, including staff recruitment, retention and remuneration, existed pre-pandemic. Although the report did acknowledge that NHS staff are facing added pressure to tackle the backlog of patients accumulated during the pandemic.

Genevieve Edwards, Chief Executive of Bowel Cancer UK said: "The findings of this report highlight legitimate concerns about the Government's lack of progress against key policy commitments to improve cancer services in England. We fed into this evaluation and we're pleased to see our concerns being used as an example. We made clear that a lack of long-term workforce planning and sustainable investment to train and employ more staff to help diagnose bowel cancer is the biggest barrier to improving services. Without this, government commitments to diagnose 75% of all cancers at stage 1 and 2 by 2028, and ultimately save more lives, will continue to be stalled.

"The Department of Health and Social Care's 10-year Cancer Plan call for evidence ends tomorrow (Friday 1 April) and is a once in a decade opportunity to address key barriers to achieving earlier diagnosis. We are submitting a comprehensive response outlining how services can be improved and how more lives can be saved."