Thank you for contacting me about waiting times for cancer treatment and care.
I understand your concerns regarding the backlog of cancer care that built up during the pandemic. During the pandemic, the country’s endeavour was used to tackle the virus and the Government is committed to applying this same spirit to tackling cancer.
To help reduce waiting times for cancer care, the Government is investing £8 billion by 2025 to help deliver nine million checks, scans, and operations by 2025, and expand the number of surgical hubs across the country. As part of the 2021 Spending Review, £2.3 billion was committed to expand Community Diagnostic Centres, which will offer rapid access to clinical tests and life-saving checks closer to home. These centres have already delivered over 3.8 million additional checks and tests and are playing an important role in helping to reduce waiting times.
The implementation of the Faster Diagnosis Standard has been instrumental in reducing waiting times, setting a clear, measurable standard for health services, and ensuring a quicker transition to the treatment phase for patients.
The Government accepted the recommendations from a review led by the National Medical Director of NHS England to revise the standards that trusts are expected to meet to deliver effective cancer care. Developed in consultation with clinical experts and supported by leading cancer charities, three cancer standards will be introduced, combining all of the previous standards and covering additional patients. Shifting the focus from appointments themselves to the outcomes they can deliver will help patients get the treatment they may need at an earlier stage, improving their chances of recovery and helping them make better informed choices.
By making sure more patients are diagnosed and treated as early as possible following a referral and replacing the outdated two-week wait target with the faster diagnosis standard already being used across the country, hundreds of patients waiting to have cancer ruled out or diagnosed could receive this news faster.
Tackling major conditions that cause ill-health - including cancer - provides an opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people. That is why I welcome that a Major Conditions Strategy will be published to outline how outcomes in six major condition areas will be improved, including cancer.
This strategy will allow for a renewed focus on innovative treatments and diagnosing cancer faster to improve outcomes, boosting the cancer workforce, and preventing more cancers from occurring.
On the Island, in addition to the investment in the new Community Diagnostic Centre at St Marys, the Hospital is one of 20 which is benefiting from new Government funding to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment. This includes improvements worth £6.4m to the intensive care unit, a £12.2m new emergency care floor and £5.1m for acute bed reconfiguration as well as a £6.7m integrated mental health and community hub in Newport High Street.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.