Developing a 10-year cancer plan for Humber and North Yorkshire

One in two people in the UK will develop cancer in their lifetime. The UK population is ageing and a person's cancer risk generally increases with age. Record numbers of people are being diagnosed with cancer and treated for the disease. 

Therefore, cancer activity represents a significant proportion of overall NHS activity, so responding to this rising demand in a way which maximises use of resources and best suits the needs of the patient is vital to build an NHS which is fit for the future.

As a nation, we are immensely proud of our NHS. But, right now, it’s in serious trouble. Many parts of the NHS across Humber and North Yorkshire are in great difficulty. Things may sometimes seem broken, but we know they can be fixed. 

In October 2024 the Government announced its intention to develop a 10-year health plan to reform the NHS to ensure it is fit for the future, due to be published in Spring 2025. It was also confirmed that a 10-year plan for cancer will be developed to a later timescale. 

Budget constraints mean that these plans will need to ensure that every pound of taxpayers' money is spent as effectively as possible.

The NHS 10-year plan aims to fundamentally reform the NHS through three transformational shifts:

• Sickness to prevention
• Hospital to community 
• Analogue to digital

The national cancer plan will explain how the government and the NHS will:

• Go further to prevent cancer
• Improve outcomes for cancer patients
• Speed up diagnosis and treatment
• Ensure patients have access to the latest treatments, digital tools and technology
• Support patients to live with and beyond cancer, with care closer to home
• Bring this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world

People in Humber and North Yorkshire have already been given the opportunity to influence the development of the national 10-year plan for cancer.

Guided by the framework of the national plan, a Humber and North Yorkshire plan for cancer will be developed to describe how the 10-year national plan for cancer will be implemented locally.