NHS England has reported the progress made towards implementation of the cancer strategy in a recent board paper.  In summary, NHS England has:

  • Announced a £130m investment in new radiotherapy equipment over the next two years
  • Brought together GPs, hospital clinicians and other local leaders to establish 16 Cancer Alliances across England to lead implementation of the cancer strategy locally
  • Begun to test rules for a new 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard in five areas of the country, and awarded funding to support long-term change in diagnosing cancer earlier
  • Started to pilot multi-disciplinary diagnostic centres at six sites, to speed up early diagnosis for patients
  • Together with NICE, launched a new approach to funding cancer drugs through the Cancer Drugs Fund
  • Made available as standard an additional six genetic diagnostic tests, to ensure each patient can access the best personalised treatment
  • Supported the launch of a new national Be Clear on Cancer campaign for lung cancer symptoms
  • Begun to develop a Quality of Life indicator to improve quality of life for patients after treatment
  • Launched a new Cancer Dashboard, which gathers together all data and intelligence about performance and patient outcomes in one place, enabling the new Cancer Alliances to see where improvements need to be made in the patient pathway
  • Announced £608m for the next four years to further support implementation of the strategy in addition to baseline allocations for cancer services.

£200 million of funding will be made available to Cancer Alliances over the next two years, to drive faster and earlier diagnosis, implement the Recovery Package and roll out stratified follow-up pathways.

The full Board paper can be viewed here.