Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the upcoming National Cancer Strategy will outline what steps the NHS will take to work with cancer support charities to support people with cancer (a) physically and (b) mentally (i) before, (ii) during and (iii) after treatment.

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has announced that a National Cancer Plan for England will be published this year. The Prime Minister’s health mission sets the objective of building a National Health Service fit for the future, and an essential part of this is achieving our goal to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care including both physical and mental health, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with all cancer types, and at all stages, including metastatic cancers. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years.

We are committed to working closely with partners and patient groups to shape the long-term vision for cancer. The Department plans to engage cancer partners, charities and those within the cancer community, seeking the views of individuals, professionals and organisations to understand how we can do more to achieve this ambition.

To do this, on 4 February 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan