Yorkshire Cancer Research statement on the Government’s National Cancer Plan: A major opportunity to end regional inequalities

Yorkshire is one of the regions hardest hit by cancer. People in Yorkshire are more likely to get cancer and more likely to die from cancer than many other places in England. There is also significant variation in access to and availability of services, cancer survival and high levels of cancer risk factors within Yorkshire.  

The charity has been campaigning for the National Cancer Plan to meet the varied needs of people living in our region.  

Today’s announcement confirms that the National Cancer Plan will expand the number of cancer specialists in the communities that need them most, ensure equal access to vital diagnostic and treatment technologies regardless of where people live and introduce targeted measures to reduce variation between areas.  

These are welcome commitments and the charity looks forward to seeing the full detail and timelines when the completed plan is published.

What’s being introduced and how does this affect Yorkshire?

The Plan introduces targeted training places in areas with the largest workforce gaps, such as rural and coastal areas and areas with high levels of deprivation and will work with Royal Colleges to encourage more doctors to specialise in oncology.  

In Yorkshire, a third of the population (31%) live in the most deprived fifth of areas in the country, and 22% of the population lives in a rural or coastal area.  

These measures could be crucial for people with cancer in Yorkshire where the scale of regional workforce disparities highlights why urgent action is needed. Yorkshire and the Humber has the lowest rate of clinical and medical oncology consultants in England, with just 5.1 per 100,000 people aged 50 and over, less than half the rate in London (11.3) and well below the national average of 6.6. The region also faces an 18% shortfall in clinical oncologists, higher than the national shortfall.  

There are currently 3,962 fulltime equivalent consultant clinical radiologists nationally, equating to 10.1 per 100,000 people. Yorkshire and the Humber sits slightly above this at 10.4 per 100,000. Yet this headline figure masks serious challenges. The region has a 12% clinical radiologist vacancy rate, one of the highest in the country, and the joint highest proportion of consultants expected to retire within five years (22%, compared with 20% across England).

What Yorkshire Cancer Research still wants to see

The charity hopes the National Cancer Plan will not only address variation in cancer specialists but also tackle inequalities across the wider clinical workforce. GPs, for instance, are a critical part of the cancer workforce, as they are often the first point of contact for people coming forward with symptoms. But access to GPs varies significantly. In Kingston Upon Hull East, one of the most deprived constituencies in the country, a single GP serves 3,664 patients, more than double the ratio in Sheffield South East (1,428).  

What’s being introduced and how does this affect Yorkshire?

The government has also committed to investing in technology and AI to drive early diagnosis. Under the new approach, medical technologies will move through an updated approval process in which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will assess new innovations. Once approved, these technologies must be funded by the NHS, mirroring the process for medical treatments.

Too often, pioneering technologies are adopted first in areas with strong research capacity, leaving other regions behind. The charity hopes this new system will help reduce that variation so that people can access the latest technologies no matter where they live, not only those living near major research centres.

What Yorkshire Cancer Research Still Wants to See

Yorkshire Cancer Research urges the National Cancer Plan to go further by addressing regional disparities in research funding and infrastructure. The charity’s White Rose Cancer Report set out the ROSE model for improving how health research funding is allocated. If fully implemented, this model could reduce inequalities in current funding systems by ensuring people across Yorkshire and throughout the whole country can benefit from clinical trials and studies that bring swift access to innovative treatments and technologies, wherever they live. 

What’s being introduced and how does this affect Yorkshire?

The National Cancer Plan will introduce new cancer manuals, national standards and simplified metrics to ensure cancer treatment is provided consistently across the country.  

Yorkshire Cancer Research’s White Rose Cancer Report highlighted treatment variation, spotlighting the poor accessibility of radiotherapy centres in Yorkshire, with only three serving the whole region, requiring many to travel over an hour for treatment.  

The charity hopes the measures will ensure that no one is isolated from accessible, high-quality treatment options. The standards will range from diagnosis to rehabilitation, aiming to remove variation at every stage. Yorkshire Cancer Research is pleased to see the role of this rehabilitation recognised as part of cancer treatment.  

After campaigning alongside more than 2,500 people in Yorkshire – and with the support of more than 40 politicians - for the National Cancer Plan to address regional inequalities, Yorkshire Cancer Research is delighted to see the plan includes several commitments which have significant potential to reduce the unacceptable variation in cancer care.  

The charity looks forward to seeing the full National Cancer Plan and hopes that it will also reflect the charity’s additional calls for people who smoke to be automatically given support to stop smoking within more NHS services and improved access to innovative cancer screening programmes.  

It is now critical that the full plan includes commitments to timely delivery and dedicated funding to ensure that the benefits of these measures are felt in full in Yorkshire and beyond.