The development of a National Cancer Plan presents an opportunity to unlock much-needed progress on earlier intervention
By Ed McIntosh, Head of UK Practice
The forthcoming publication of a National Cancer Plan later this year is a significant milestone for cancer policy in England – it will be the first national strategy dedicated to improving cancer outcomes in a decade.
The call for evidence to inform the Plan highlights that earlier diagnosis will be one of the major themes of the Plan. This is no surprise – early intervention has long been a priority for the NHS, and the system even adopted the bold ambition in 2019 that 75% of cancers would be diagnosed at stage 1 or 2 by 2028.
However, despite the consensus that early intervention is necessary, actual progress in delivering a ‘left shift’ has been limited. There was no improvement in early diagnosis rates between 2013 and 2021, while almost five years on from the Long Term Plan over 40% of patients are still diagnosed at a late stage or with unstaged cancer.
AstraZeneca commissioned Incisive Health to explore the reasons behind this lack of progress, with the intention of identifying changes in approach that could make a difference as part of the new National Cancer Plan.
We spoke to a range of experts including national and local health service leaders, innovators, those working in central government departments, think tanks, charities and professionals working in the NHS and independent sector.
These conversations have shaped the recommendations made in our independent report, Getting upstream: Creating an early intervention system. Written by our Senior Counsel, Mike Birtwistle, the report outlines the essential characteristics of an early intervention service – urgent, proactive, accessible and informed – and makes 16 recommendations for how this concept can be made a reality.
The report’s recommendations include a call for renewed political leadership and accountability, for cross-party support for action to provide continuity, for the redesign of funding flows to support earlier intervention, for shifting the focus to reducing late diagnosis and for the use of technology to make earlier intervention possible.
We hope that the report will be a helpful contribution to the debate on how the shared challenge of delivering earlier intervention, and better cancer outcomes, can be achieved. We will be seeking to work with stakeholders across the Government and NHS to ensure that the opportunities presented by the National Cancer Plan to drive a real step change in cancer care and outcomes are realised.
2025 will be a pivotal year for cancer policy, with the Spending Review, 10 Year Plan, National Cancer Plan and abolition of NHS England all likely to shape the direction of cancer for many years to come. Early intervention should be at the heart of a more effective, more efficient, more sustainable approach, but this will require strong leadership and a willingness to take bold decisions.
This paper was initiated and funded by AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca had no editorial control and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the funder, although the draft was reviewed to ensure compliance with the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority Code.