Treating cancer differently
When we hear the word cancer our whole world can turn upside down. It’s a fact too many of us are sadly familiar with. It’s not just a diagnosis – it’s the fear of what comes next. The strain on families, worry about money, work and the future. Our health system has been focused on treating the disease, but left people to navigate everything else on their own.
This government is taking a different approach. Our new National Cancer Plan represents a fundamental shift in how we care for people with cancer – one that recognises that treatment is only part of the story.
For the first time, every cancer patient will receive a Personalised Cancer Plan. This isn’t just about scans, surgery or chemotherapy. It’s about the reality of living with cancer. It means support with mental health, advice on diet and fatigue, help returning to work and guidance for life after treatment ends.
Many cancer patients face a cliff edge when treatment finishes. One day you are surrounded by medical teams and appointments, the next, you are expected to get on with life, often still dealing with pain, anxiety or exhaustion. Under this plan every patient will receive a clear end-of-treatment summary, with advice on warning signs, who to contact with concerns and where to find ongoing support like counselling, physiotherapy or local groups.
We’re also making sure people are connected to help from the moment they are diagnosed. Through the NHS App, patients will be signposted straight away to cancer charities that can offer everything from financial advice to emotional support.
The plan is that by 2035 every patient will have a named neighbourhood care lead to help coordinate their care after treatment. That will mean no more being passed from pillar to post and no more confusion about who to call or where to turn.
This is about more than compassion – when people receive the right support, they recover better, they get back to their families, their communities, and their jobs sooner. That benefits not just patients, but our society and our economy too.
Labour is backing this plan with real investment and action – more community diagnostic centres open in the evenings and at weekends, improved screening programmes, support for children travelling for cancer care, new AI tools to detect hard-to-reach lung cancers earlier and partnerships with employers to help people stay in work during and after treatment.
Our ambition is clear – by 2035, three in four cancer patients will be cancer-free or living well five years after diagnosis. That is a bold goal, but it’s the kind of ambition cancer patients deserve.
Cancer doesn’t just attack the body. It affects every part of a person’s life. This plan recognises that truth and reshapes care around the patient, not the other way around.
This will be the biggest shift in how we support cancer patients in a generation and it’s exactly the kind of change our NHS was built to deliver.
