In a Ministerial statement this afternoon, Health Minister Andrew Gwynne announced the Government's plans with regards to cancer.
On World Cancer Day, Minister Gwynne (pictured top right), who lost both his parents to the disease, began his statement by praising charities for driving vital research and working to improve patient outcomes.
Now, he said, is the time to plan for the future and build on our position as a global leader in the life sciences and “do things differently”.
He stated that a specific approach for cancer was needed and that a national cancer plan would be published in the second half of the year.
This will follow a call for evidence and Minister Gwynne asked patients, doctors and nurses to ensure that the patient voice is heard as the plan is compiled.
He specifically mentioned brain tumours as an area were things have “not progressed at all". This point was amplified by the Chair of the All-Party Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT), Dame Siobhain McDonagh (pictured top left).
Dame Siobhain, whilst also announcing a new clinical trial into glioblastoma that would have the memory of her sister, Margaret, at its heart, called on the NHS and NIHR to do better for those diagnosed with a brain tumour. Minister Gwynne agreed, stating that “we have not done well enough” and that Dame Siobhain, and by extension the UK brain tumour community, would be pushing on an “open door” when advocating for more research, to improve patient outcomes.
Many other MPs expressed their support for the brain tumour community in the chamber today, among them Peter Prinsley for Bury St. Edmunds and Peter Swallow for Bracknell, the latter of whom attended two fundraising events for Brain Tumour Research in memory of Ethan Treharne over the weekend.
Ethan died of a glioblastoma aged 17
Dr Scott Arthur, MP for Edinburgh South West, spoke about his Rare Cancer Private Members Bill, mentioning his meeting with us yesterday, and called for full inclusion of rarer and less common cancers in the plan. Minister Gwynne was very clear that “those with lived experience have to be at the heart of what we are doing".
We welcome Minister Gwynne's commitment today, that brain tumours will be “an integral part of our cancer plan".
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