The 2026-2035 Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Plan
On 6 August 2026, Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance published its 10-Year Cancer Plan for Humber and North Yorkshire.
Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Plan 2026-35 summarises the early thinking about how Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance, working in partnership with NHS organisations, local authorities, voluntary sector partners, and people affected by cancer, intends to contribute to delivering the ambitions of the National Cancer Plan on a regional scale.
The National Cancer Plan was published on 4 February 2026, following the publication of the 10-year health plan for England in July 2025, which sets out fundamental reform of the NHS through transformational change to ensure its sustainability in the future.
The 10-year health plan focuses on three major shifts to transform the NHS: moving care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention - aiming to provide more local, tech-enabled, and proactive care, making health services more accessible and efficient for the future.
The national cancer plan is part of this programme of reform, aiming to reduce lives lost to cancer (320,000 more lives saved over the next 10 years), and to deliver improved care and patient experience through the three shifts.
The plan sets out how the NHS will improve performance, improve survival and improve quality of life for people being diagnosed with, treated, or living with cancer – and includes three key ambitions:
- meet the cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament
- by 2035, three in four people diagnosed with cancer will be cancer-free, or living well with cancer after five years
- improve the quality of life for people being diagnosed with, treated, or living with cancer
In support of this national reform, Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance and partners developed a 10-year plan for cancer in Humber and North Yorkshire, that supports the ambitions of the national cancer plan and provides a tailored approach to reflect our region's diverse geography and communities.
How the region's people had their say on the plan
To help to inform the development of the Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Plan, the Cancer Alliance
embarked on a comprehensive engagement exercise
(starting in June 2025 and ending in March 2026) to
seek the views of the region's cancer patients, cancer
workforce, and members of the public.
A key element of this engagement was an online survey, which invited people to share their views on what matters most in relation to cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care. It was open to current and former cancer patients, carers, people working in cancer services, wider healthcare staff, and members of the public.
We heard from:
- current and past cancer patients and carers
- people working in cancer services
- people working in other healthcare settings which support cancer patients general public
- general public
How the survey responses were used
The views and experiences shared through the survey by cancer services staff, patients, carers, and members of the public played a vital role in shaping the 10-year plan for cancer in Humber and North Yorkshire.
By listening to the perspectives of those who deliver, receive, and support cancer care, we were able to identify what is working well and where improvements are needed.
The feedback will help Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance and partners to understand local priorities, highlight gaps in services, and ensure that future plans reflect the real needs of our communities.
All responses were carefully reviewed and used to guide decisions on how cancer services will be transformed across the region over the next decade.
Community engagement
In addition to the online survey, insight was gathered through wider community engagement activity, including events and conversations with patients and members of the public across the region, helping ensure the voices of diverse communities were included in the development of the plan. A significant effort was made to prioritise engagement with lesser-heard communities to ensure their voices were heard in this consultation process.
In total, the Cancer Alliance carried out 44 engagement events, including:
- Driffield Show
- Messingham Show
- Scarborough and Scunthorpe Pride events
- Various events to engage with seldom-heard / under-served / marginalised communities
