Government rejects MPs’ warning on early cancer diagnosis

MPs have warned that the NHS may not be on track to meet the government’s early cancer diagnosis target by 2028, but the government says it is ‘premature’ to suggest that progress is off track.

The Health and Social Care Committee published a report in April, finding there was a risk that gains in cancer survival would reverse without significant additional efforts, with MP’s arguing that the government was not on track to meet its 75% early diagnosis target for cancer.

The report concluded neither earlier diagnosis nor additional prompt cancer treatment would be possible without addressing gaps in the cancer workforce, but MPs found little evidence of a serious effort to do this.

However, the government has responded saying it was ‘premature’ for the Committee to suggest that progress on early diagnosis was ‘off track’.

Health and Social Care Committee Chair Jeremy Hunt said: ‘Earlier cancer diagnosis is the key to improving overall survival rates. Without wholesale improvement, we do not believe that the NHS is on track to reach the government’s target on this and so it is deeply concerning that Ministers label our warning as premature.

‘For this ambition to be met, urgent increases are needed to plug critical gaps in the cancer workforce. Instead of a detailed plan to address these shortages, we are offered a ‘new vision for how we will lead the world in cancer care’. These are simply words; the government cannot tell us how or when a single extra oncologist will be recruited.’

In their report, MPs had urged the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to:

• Develop a specific plan to address gaps in diagnostic workforce, short-term and long-term shortages in key professions and level of investment required to deliver sustainable long-term increases.
• Publish a detailed analysis of the extent of the cancer backlog to support the delivery of the elective care recovery plan.
• Set out an estimate of what level of additional capacity in NHS cancer services will be needed to address the backlog in cancer services and treatment by March 2023.
• Set out an action plan to ensure that NHS cancer services are able to provide this additional capacity above normal levels.

Photo by Louis Reed