Policy paper

Plan for cancer care in England (easy read - text only)

Published 20 April 2026

Applies to England

We are the Department of Health and Social Care, part of the UK government.

We know that too many people in England are dying of cancer.

So we have written a new plan for cancer care.

This page will tell you about our new plan for the next 10 years.

Why we need a new plan for cancer care

The NHS needs to change, because people cannot see a doctor or get treatment quickly enough.

So we need to make big changes to how we find and treat cancer.

People from poorer parts of the country are more likely to be diagnosed late, so they do not get treatment as quickly as they should.

Diagnosed means you have seen a doctor about your health and they have told you what is wrong.

People from poorer parts of the country are also less likely to get the best care.

People with disabilities, LGBT+ people, and people from some ethnic groups are less likely to get checked for cancer.

LGBT+ means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender + others.

Your ethnic group is your race and the country that your family comes from.

They are also less likely to be part of a clinical trial, which might help save their life.

A clinical trial is when doctors test new treatments or medicines on people.

Cancer care is getting better.

In the year to March 2025, more people got a diagnosis and started treatment than the year before.

In September 2025, more people got an early diagnosis than ever before. We want to make sure everyone with cancer gets good care.

About the plan

We want to be one of the best countries in the world at finding and treating cancer.

We plan to use science and technology to change how we find and treat cancer.

We think this will make it easier to stop people from getting cancer.

We also think this will make it easier to find cancer quicker.

We will use science and technology to help people to plan and understand their care.

The NHS will work with scientists to reduce the number of people who get cancer.

We plan to:

• do more to stop people getting cancer because of things like smoking, being overweight or drinking too much alcohol
• work with charities and other groups to reach people most in need

People will be able to use the NHS App to ask for tests or referrals themselves.

A referral is when a doctor sends you to see a specialist in the hospital.

People will still be able to talk to a doctor about their cancer care if they want to.

The government has said how long people should have to wait for cancer care, this is called the Cancer Waiting Time.

At the moment, a lot of people are waiting longer for cancer care than they should.

By the next General Election, people will be getting cancer care in the time that the Cancer Waiting Time says they should.

A General Election is when everyone can vote for their Member of Parliament, called MP for short.

To help people get cancer care as quickly as they should, we will:

• do more and better tests for cancer
• help the hospitals that take the longest to find and treat cancer to get quicker
• help patients do more for themselves by using the NHS App
• stop people born after 2009 from being sold tobacco

To help people get cancer care as quickly as they should, we will also:

• do more tests to find out if people are likely to get cancer
• give more people better cancer care
• give more people support, including after treatment ends

We will help people who get cancer to have better lives by:

• giving them care in their local area
• giving them a plan for their treatment and other needs
• making it easier for them to tell healthcare professionals if anything changes
• helping them get better before they start cancer treatment

We will also support people to stay in work or go back to work after treatment, if they want to.

We will make it easier for people to take part in clinical trials that might help save their lives.

We will give more people new treatments and technologies to stop them being ill.

Special areas of the plan

To make the plan work, we will need to do more to support children and young people with cancer.

We will spend up to £10 million each year to help children and their families travel for cancer treatment.

We will also look at new ways to find and treat rare cancers.

What the plan will mean

This plan will mean that by 2035, 3 out of every 4 people who get cancer will be living well 5 years after their diagnosis.

They might not have cancer any more, or they might be living well with cancer.

Find out more

You can read the full plan on the National Cancer Plan for England page.