Cancer: 10-point plan to improve patient care
NI professor co-authors new paper calling for UK-wide national cancer control plan
Leading cancer doctors have called for a "fundamental reset" of cancer care in the UK in a bid to improve outcomes for those with the disease.
A policy review, published in The Lancet Oncology, and co-authored by Queen's University professor Mark Lawler, said survival rates "remain unacceptably poor for many cancers" at a time when care "has become increasingly complex, specialised and expensive".
The paper outlines a 10-point plan to improve cancer care, and calls for the creation of a UK-wide national cancer control plan, along with a prevention programme for smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption.
Experts said the current crisis has "deep historic roots" and a "fundamental reset is required" to reverse the problem.
It comes after the Government revealed plans to integrate its national cancer control plan into the Major Conditions Strategy, which was launched in January 2023.
The blueprint will aim to improve health outcomes over the next five years and will cover cancer, heart disease, musculoskeletal disorders, poor mental health, dementia and respiratory diseases.
It is expected to be published early next year.
Mr Lawler, who is a professor of digital health at Queen's University Belfast and chairman of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership, said "abandoning" a national cancer plan for the Major Conditions Strategy is "an incomprehensible decision not in the best interests of people with cancer".
Professor Richard Sullivan, joint senior author and director of the Institute of Cancer Policy at King's College London, added: "Cancer needs to be a top political priority for the whole of the UK.
"We need care that is clinically led and truly personalised. The failure to deliver specific and properly resourced cancer plans with a research agenda that is fit-for-purpose is also leading to widening patient inequalities, healthcare staff burnout and poor outcomes.
"All the ingredients are there to address these issues. But we need political will."
The authors estimate there will be between 457,000 and 564,000 cancer patients each year in the UK by 2040, a 30% increase from today.
They also want to see primary care strengthened, with hospice care integrated within the NHS.
Ruth Driscoll, associate director of policy and public affairs at the end of life charity Marie Curie, called for "more and better funding" for hospices to work with the NHS to meet rising demand and "end the postcode lottery in access".
She added: "Some people with cancer will die with the disease. We can't shy away from that."
Professor Lawler also called the decision to dismantle the National Cancer Research Institute, which was announced in June, a "big mistake".
The paper calls for it to be re-established, along with the broadening of the strategic agenda on cancer research.