​Taskforce report: achieving world-class cancer outcomes

Posted 23rd July 2015

Taskforce report: achieving world-class cancer outcomes The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is backing a report by the Independent Cancer Taskforce which calls for substantial improvements in cancer care in England.

It is estimated that this route map for prevention, earlier diagnosis, modern treatments and compassionate care could save 30,000 lives a year.

The taskforce, which was set up by NHS England in January to develop the next cancer strategy, said that with survival rates also increasing each year, more and more people are now living with cancer.

The report sets out proposals for how patient experience can be transformed both during and after treatment at a time when NHS cancer services are under unprecedented pressure.

The plans include:

  • The creation of a four-week target for diagnosis from GP referral. Currently patients are meant to see a specialist within two weeks of a GP referral but can then face weeks of waiting for tests, meaning a growing number of patients do not get their treatment started within 62 days as they should
  • An 80% increase in the number of tests being carried out, including increasing the ability of GPs to order tests directly - for many they have to go through a hospital specialist
  • Replacing more than 100 radiotherapy machines - half of England's stock - with new, better models
  • Recruiting extra staff in areas such as specialist nurses and radiologists, with the latter needing to nearly double in number
  • Cancer patients to get online access to all their test results and a specialist nurse or other key worker to co-ordinate their care
  • A call for action on smoking and obesity - four in 10 cancers could be prevented through lifestyle improvements
  • All cancer survivors to be given a recovery package so they get the support they need to recover from their treatment and stay cancer-free

Helen Porter, Director of Nursing and Quality said, “We welcome the developments included in this ambitious new strategy. Our whole ethos is about providing the very highest quality of care to our patients. It is encouraging to see that patient experience is a high priority initiative within the report and that there will be a focus on developing services aimed at addressing the needs of those living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis; a challenge that we are responding to through the development of our own services.”