Supporters from over 60 cancer charities are coming together to call for one thing – Government action on cancer. Sign the petition
07 February 2023
As part of a One Cancer Voice (a group of over 60 cancer charities supporting millions with cancer), we are calling on the Government to address cancer patients needs' now and in the future and we need your help. We have launched a petition (hosted by Cancer Research UK) calling for the UK Government to tackle the crisis in cancer care – the growth in waiting times, backlog of patients and worsening cancer patient experience.
A year ago, on World Cancer Day, on 4 February 2022, the UK Government declared a 'war on cancer’ and committed to tackling this challenge through the publication of a 10-Year Cancer Plan for England.
We joined forces with the Women's Institute to ask you what this plan need to support those with ovarian cancer. In total, over 5,000 people – including many Ovarian Cancer Action supporters – shared their experiences, needs and suggestions for what this plan should do. 11 months passed and the Government has still not published the 10-Year Cancer Plan. Instead, it recently announced the publication an interim 5-year ‘Major Conditions Strategy’, to replace the promised 10-Year Cancer Plan. We are concerned that this reflects a dilution of the ambition and shifts focus away from some of the specifics asks, issues and opportunities for cancer services and for people affected by cancer.
As One Cancer Voice, we're calling on the UK Government to put the needs of people with cancer first by:
- Ensuring the upcoming Major Conditions Strategy is ambitious, fully funded and listens to the voices and evidence of the cancer community
- Committing to a longer-term strategy for cancer which focusses on transforming cancer research, diagnosis, treatment and patient experience.
Patients deserve a plan to transform us into a ‘world-leading’ force in cancer care. We are devastated to have gone from anticipating a detailed, 10-year strategy dedicated wholly to transforming us into a ‘world-leading’ force in cancer care to one part in a strategy spanning a huge range of conditions. The Government risks failing to achieve its ambition to transform cancer care in England. Cancer patients and their families, now and in the future, are being let down. Since the plan was first promised, around 375,000 people in the UK will have been diagnosed with cancer, and sadly around 167,000 will have lost their lives to the disease.
That’s why, collectively, One Cancer Voice, has come together, on behalf of people affected by cancer, to hold the Government to account and ensure it does not retreat on its ambition to transform cancer care and services for patients now and in the future. We want the Prime Minister to commit to taking action to dramatically improve the experience and outcomes of people affected by cancer.
The petition has launched today (7th February 2023) and will be live for four weeks. It will be handed in to the Prime Minister at No.10 on March 22.