Cancer Strategy for England

Max Wilkinson Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

I thank all hon. Members for adhering to the time guidance; that is really helpful. We now move on to the Front-Bench speakers, who will have 10 minutes each—

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

Sorry, Mr Betts— I wanted to speak.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

Sorry; please take just three minutes.

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts, and I will be as brief as I possibly can be. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing this important debate.

Two days ago, it would have been my father’s 64th birthday, but sadly he died of lymphoma in 2018 aged just 57. Recently my family marked 18 months since my wife was given the all-clear after ovarian cancer. It is thanks to the skill of a highly-qualified surgeon, who removed an absolutely huge lump from her body, that she is with us today and I am very grateful to them every single day.

Much has been said about the need for a national cancer strategy. I will offer the Minister one local opportunity, and it is an opportunity because the previous Government, despite taking some political credit for it in Cheltenham, failed to offer very much money to the Big Space Cancer Appeal to revamp Cheltenham general hospital’s oncology centre. As a regional cancer centre, Gloucestershire hospitals NHS foundation trust treats thousands of patients each year, but many of its buildings are now at end of life, many of the rooms have no natural light, and the outdated design is unsuitable for the number of patients in need of treatment.

We know that identifying cancer early and beginning treatment soon afterwards is key to giving people the best chance of survival. The staff at the trust work very hard but they are working under huge pressure and it is no secret that, as others have mentioned, targets are routinely missed. Our local trust is not alone in that. Many staff in the trust feel that the current space is not fit for purpose, and that certainly will not help their best efforts. That is why the trust has launched the Big Space Cancer Appeal. That situation is representative of the challenge we face in not having a strategy for dealing with cancer. The last Government gave almost no money for the project, and the £17.5 million that is being raised in Cheltenham is almost the entire capital cost of the project.

The new centre will offer patients a modern space and a better environment for treatment, healing and recovery. It will have modern consulting rooms, allowing more patients to be treated every day. That will help to cut down waiting times, so that targets can be hit and patients get better outcomes. For some people, this will mean the difference between life and death.

You asked me to be brief, Mr Betts, so I will draw my remarks to a close by thanking Dr Sam Guglani, Dr Charles Candish and all the staff at the trust’s charity—the initiative is charity-led but backed by the trust, which does not itself have the funding to deliver it. I also thank Dr Diane Savory, who has been working extremely hard on the project.

If the Government are looking for opportunities to invest in cancer care—we have already heard about some of the consequences of not doing so in my area from my hon. Friend the Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young)—I urge them to get in touch, because there is a real opportunity with this project to make a huge difference on the ground.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

We move on now to the Front Bencher. If they could just leave a minute at the end of the debate for the hon. Member for Wokingham to respond to the debate, that would be really helpful.