We want cancer patients, healthcare staff and the public in Humber and North Yorkshire to tell us what matters most so we can build cancer services that meet local needs over the next decade.

The national cancer plan has been published today (4 February), following the publication of the 10-year health plan for England in July last year, 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 are working to develop a 10-year plan for cancer in Humber and North Yorkshire, one that supports the ambitions of the national cancer plan and provides a tailored approach to reflect our region's diverse geography and communities.