National Cancer Plan

Greg Smith Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ashley Dalton]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting such amazing work happening in her constituency. From the very beginning, we have said that this Government’s approach is to take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS. Using the NHS app and the new national co-ordination of activities, we hope to share some of that best practice a lot more widely.

[Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)]

I very much welcome the plan. I see the Minister’s commitment to it, and in the interests of all our constituents, I absolutely hope that it works and comes through. In the last Parliament, I did a lot of work on the all-party parliamentary group on minimally invasive cancer therapies—the group no longer exists—which, notwithstanding the commitment to innovation and technology that the Minister has outlined, is one area I have not heard much about. Could she outline to the House how this plan will bring through faster, and on a less of a postcode lottery basis, the new minimally invasive therapies?

[Ashley Dalton]

Harnessing technology right across the cancer landscape is what this plan is about. Where it is appropriate for less invasive treatments to be used, we are looking to explore how we can roll them out across the country, regardless of postcodes. Lots more people are surviving cancer with treatment, but what is important is that the side effects of invasive cancer treatment can be significant—I know: I have several of them—so, where possible, we want to use innovative, less invasive treatments so that people can live longer, more fruitful and less painful lives.