Labour announce new cancer fund plans

Labour have announced they would set up a fund to pay for cancer drugs, surgery and radiotherapy, as part of a new cancer strategy they would publish in the first six months of government if elected.

The government funded-Cancer Drugs Fund is going to come to an end in 2016. To replace this, Labour plans to introduce a Cancer Treatments Fund, which would amount to a £330 million year fund with the aim of improving cancer treatments, including increasing access to advanced forms of radiotherapy. At the moment, such treatment is only available to some NHS patients.

Andy Burnham, Shadow Health Secretary, will unveil these plans at a speech at the Britain Against Cancer conference. He is expected to say:

“My goal is to make the NHS the best health service in the world for the treatment of cancer. We will only achieve that if we give patients access to the most effective forms of treatment, particularly advanced radiotherapy”

“The problem with cancer policy under the current government is that it prioritises one form of cancer treatment over others and places one group of patients ahead of another.

“This is indefensible when we know surgery and radiotherapy are responsible for nine in ten cases where cancer is cured.

“It is not right that 40,000 people every year who could benefit from radiotherapy are missing out.”

Executive director of Cancer Research UK Sarah Woolnough has said they are “delighted” with Labour’s “commitment to investing in radiotherapy and surgery”. But, she also warned that there’s more to be done, explaining, “We also need to see a continued commitment to diagnosing more cancers early. Surgery and radiotherapy are more likely to be effective when the disease is diagnosed in the earliest stages.”