New NHS England early cancer diagnosis figures: Yorkshire lagging behind

Yorkshire Cancer Research welcomes the news from the NHS that advancements in early diagnosis are being made on a national scale.

The figures demonstrate the vital impact that targeted screening programmes have on finding cancers at the earliest possible stage, when there is the best chance of successful treatment.

While the national data marks a positive improvement in early diagnosis, Yorkshire still lags behind and some parts of the region have the lowest rates of people getting diagnosed with early-stage cancers in the country. Early cancer diagnosis rates in Yorkshire do show improvements over time, however the proportion of people being diagnosed at an early stage is increasing at a slower rate than in England.

The NHS long term plan has set a target for 75% of all cancers to be diagnosed early by 2028, but data from the charity suggests that Yorkshire will miss this target by seven years.

Yorkshire Cancer Research is committed to improving the early diagnosis of cancer in Yorkshire by funding vital screening programmes and life-saving screening trials. This includes the Leeds Lung Health Check, a pioneering lung screening trial which offered people at a higher risk of lung cancer the opportunity to be scanned for early signs of the disease.

Having recently been taken over by the NHS to roll it out nationally, the trial has helped pave the way for a national lung screening programme by 2030 and will see 600,000 people in Yorkshire offered a lung health check over the next five years.

The life-saving impact of screening initiatives like the Leeds Lung Health Check is clear, however there is more work to be done to ensure everyone in Yorkshire, no matter who they are or where they live, can get diagnosed at the earliest possible stage.

Investment in local solutions is critical for increasing screening uptake to ensure that all of Yorkshire’s diverse communities have access to cancer screening and feel supported to approach their GP if they believe they may have cancer signs and symptoms.

There are many barriers stopping people in Yorkshire from accessing screening services and attending GP appointments, so it is vital that greater investment is made into local initiatives and research that discovers new ways to get people diagnosed early.

Everyone in Yorkshire should have the best chance of surviving cancer.

If you would like to see early diagnosis made a priority in Yorkshire, join Yorkshire Cancer Research’s Change Yorkshire’s Cancer Story campaign.