Labour is launching its plan to end the cancer backlog, as new
projections reveal 700,000 cancer patients will wait too long for
treatment if the Conservatives are given another five years.
Labour's plan will get the NHS meeting its cancer targets by the
end of a first term in government. Last year, 102,000 cancer
patients (more than 1-in-3) waited longer than two months for
treatment following an urgent cancer referral.
The NHS aims to treat cancer patients within two months of an
urgent referral for treatment, but the target hasn't been met
under the Conservatives since 2015.
That includes Nathaniel Dye, a terminal bowel cancer patient who
spoke at the launch of Labour's manifesto this week. He waited
over 100 days to start treatment, by which time his cancer was
terminal.
New projections reveal that - if the Conservatives win a fifth
term- around 700,000 cancer patients will wait
longer than two months to begin treatment over the
next five years, based on current NHS performance.
Labour's plan to catch cancer on time includes:
- Delivering an extra 40,000 appointments, tests and scans a
week at evenings and weekends
- Doubling the number of CT & MRI scanners, with new,
AI-enabled scanners.
- The biggest expansion of NHS staff in history
- Using spare capacity in the private sector to get patients
diagnosed faster
- Introducing a progressive ban on smoking, so this generation
of young people can never legally smoke.
This plan is fully costed and fully funded, paid for by clamping
down on tax dodgers and closing non-dom loopholes.
, Labour's Shadow Health
Secretary, said:
“Having gone through treatment for kidney cancer, I know that the
earlier cancer is caught, the better chance of survival.
“Since the Conservatives took office in 2010, hundreds of
thousands of patients have waited too long for tests, scans, and
treatment.
“If the Conservatives are given another five years, nothing will
change, the crisis in cancer care will continue, and hundreds of
thousands more cancer patients will wait too long.
“Labour's fully-funded and fully-costed plan will catch cancer on
time, diagnosing earlier and treating it faster to save lives. We
will also prevent cancer in the first place, passing a
progressive ban on tobacco so young people today are even less
likely to smoke than they are to vote Tory.”
Ends
Notes
NHS figures on cancer waiting times.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
Projections suggest 700,000 cancer patients will wait
longer than two months for treatment over the next five years at
current NHS performance levels:
