Letter to Health & Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting

Dear Secretary of State,

Yorkshire Cancer Research is Yorkshire’s cancer charity. Established almost a 100 years ago the organisation is working towards a future where everyone in Yorkshire lives longer, healthier lives.

Many congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The charity welcomes your clear commitment as Health and Social Care Secretary to lead a Health Mission to reverse the decline in the health of the nation, with NHS reform and prevention both at the top of the Government’s agenda.

Our organisation especially welcomes your commitment to address cancer on all fronts, including within the areas of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and research and we hope these reforms will be instrumental in improving cancer outcomes for Yorkshire - one of England’s regions hardest hit by cancer.

Here in Yorkshire, a fifth of cancer cases are diagnosed through an emergency route, the highest of any region in England, when cancer is more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage requiring more complex treatment and reducing the likelihood of positive outcomes.

We also know that nearly four in ten cancer cases in England are preventable, so a greater focus on prevention can enable people to live longer, healthier lives, free from cancer, meaning that nearly 12,000 cancers diagnosed each year in Yorkshire can be prevented.

The charity’s breadth of experience, working across the varied geography and demographics within Yorkshire, means we have deep, expert knowledge on the cancer landscape and what is effective in improving cancer outcomes. Current evidence demonstrates a bold approach is needed to tackle the entrenched health disparities and regional inequalities the region faces.

A long-term plan for cancer is a key part of the solution; demonstrable in proven international best practice and shown to be effective when implemented by previous Governments between 2000 and 2015, where it helped make improvements in treatment, waiting times and survival.

Your leadership in the prioritisation of a fully funded, dedicated cancer strategy will realise a once in a lifetime opportunity for England and help the urgent redressing of health inequalities and cancer across the Yorkshire region.

Specifically, reflecting the issues faced within Yorkshire, the charity’s Help Change Yorkshire’s Cancer Story campaign is calling for a long-term cancer strategy which includes:

1. Making early diagnosis a priority by removing barriers to attending GP or screening appointments.
2. Improving cancer treatments, with the integration of prehabilitation and rehabilitation for all cancer patients, such as that demonstrated so effectively by our successful Active Together (prehabilitation and rehabilitation) service.
3. Focus on cancer prevention measures to achieve a Smokefree Yorkshire and a joined-up plan for obesity and alcohol-related harm. Yorkshire has some of the highest smoking rates in the country and lung cancer causes the highest number of deaths by any individual cancer site, yet over 7 in 10 lung cancers are caused by smoking and are considered preventable. Recent prevalence data shows Doncaster has the highest smoking prevalence in Yorkshire at 17.8% and the 5th highest rate in England.
4. Fairer investment in cancer research for Yorkshire; the region only receives 5% of medical research funding in the UK, despite making up 8% of the population. A dedicated and enhanced budget for clinical research and infrastructure proportionate to the needs and demographic of the region is critically needed, to ensure the population is represented and the under representation of 'seldom-heard groups' addressed.

The charity looks forward to working with you and colleagues in Government on this important work.

Our public affairs team held a positive meeting with Karin Smyth’s team prior to the General Election to discuss the research the charity funds - in particular, the exercise and cancer (prehabilitation and rehabilitation) service ‘Active Together’. This is proving to have notably positive results across a range of measures including survival, bed stays and long-term behaviour change. It can improve outcomes by helping people tolerate greater doses and access treatments previously unavailable to them, reduce postoperative complications and length of hospital stay.

Funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, designed by Sheffield Hallam University and delivered in partnership with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the service has supported over 1,000 patients to date and demonstrated improvements in patient fitness, quality of life and achieving gross health care utilization savings.

I would be delighted to meet with you to build on these discussions and invite you to visit our research centre in Harrogate. I look forward to your response in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Kathryn Scott
Chief Executive