Five priorities for the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care 

Last month, I called for all political parties to make the general election a turning point for cancer. Clearly, there’s no quick fix for improving cancer survival, but by prioritising and utilising resources in the right areas, we can rapidly accelerate progress. With a new UK government and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, now in place, I’ve identified five priorities that should be addressed as soon as possible.  

1. Reintroducing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this week’s King’s Speech  

Analysis that we published last week showed that the number of cancer cases caused by smoking in the UK has reached an all-time high, providing further evidence of the negative impact of smoking on society. We were vocal in our backing of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill – introduced by the previous government – to support our mission of creating the first smokefree generation in the UK and we’ve been encouraged by the positive noises coming from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about reintroducing the legislation. The first step will be for Labour to include it as a parliamentary priority in Wednesday’s King’s Speech.  

2. Committing to a long-term cancer plan for England 

Labour’s pre-election manifesto stressed the importance of using ‘preventative public health measures to tackle the biggest killers and support people to live longer, healthier lives.’ Alongside individual interventions like action on smoking, the best way to achieve this is by committing to a long-term, fully funded strategy to improve and reform cancer services in England.  

At Cancer Research UK, we recently produced the Leading on Cancer report, which shows how cancer control strategies can improve cancer outcomes, outlining how strategies can be most effective in their design and implementation. The report also details our policy recommendations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  

3. Addressing cancer waiting times

Despite the best efforts of NHS staff, since 2015 over 380,000 cancer patients in England haven’t been treated on time. In the most recent data from May, only 65.8% of people in England received their diagnosis and started their first treatment within 2 months of an urgent referral, well below the target of 85%.   

We welcome the commitments that the UK Government has made to solve those issues by delivering 40,000 more appointments each week and creating a ‘Fit For The Future Fund’. We need to see improvements as soon as possible and will closely monitor progress towards these goals.  

It was also encouraging to see Wes Streeting commission an independent investigation of the NHS, led by Lord Darzi, to assess the quality of healthcare currently being provided and the overall performance of the health system in England.   

4. Making the UK a world leader in life sciences

In January, I outlined the reasons why science and innovation needed backing in this country and new government data published last week reaffirmed that there are areas where the UK isn’t fulfilling its potential in life sciences.  

The life sciences sector is a UK success story, but in recent years other countries like Denmark have increased capabilities and made progress on cancer at a faster pace. Last year, for the first time since 2012, the UK had no Initial Public Offerings in life sciences. Unless action is taken, the UK’s ability to attract the best researchers, innovative companies and life science investors will be greatly reduced.  

5. Enabling economic growth

Alongside building an NHS fit for the future, another of Labour’s five missions for government was to kickstart economic growth. Last week, Wes Streeting expanded the focus of the DHSC to support the mission.   

In 2022, we published analysis that showed the economic benefits of investing in cancer research. Then, in Longer, Better Lives, our manifesto for cancer research and care, we detailed how improvements in cancer research, prevention and care would reduce health, social care and ‘informal’ care costs. The economic argument for investing in cancer research has been overlooked for too long. There is much to do, but the prize is surely worth it: a stronger, healthier and more productive UK where everybody can lead longer, better lives.