Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about cancer treatment and care. I share your concerns about the impact of the pandemic on cancer pathways and I agree that we need a fully resourced plan to address the growing backlog of unmet clinical need.

We should not have to choose between COVID-19 care and cancer care, yet for too many that has been the stark reality. The number of referrals to see a specialist doctor declined by 370,000 last year and the proportion of cancers diagnosed while they are still highly curable has fallen to 41%.

Even before the pandemic, waiting times were rising and key cancer targets were repeatedly missed. I am concerned that years of NHS underfunding, cuts and understaffing weakened and exposed our health service as the pandemic hit. As a result, waiting lists now stand at a record 5.6 million, with over 293,000 patients waiting for more than a year for treatment.

Behind these saddening figures are people that have not been diagnosed who should have been and patients waiting anxiously to begin treatment. It is vital that our health service is fully resourced and staffed to provide effective, timely diagnosis and referral, and to ensure all cancer patients receive the care and treatment they need.

The Government’s plan to increase taxes to pay for improvements in health and care will disproportionately hit working people hard, including low earners and young people, as well as placing additional burden on businesses as they recover from the pandemic. And Ministers have refused to guarantee that the funding will be sufficient to clear NHS backlogs.

In my view, the taxes that pay for health and care should be fair across the generations and all forms of income. Those with the broadest shoulders should pay more – not the working families now set for an unfair tax rise.

With the Institute for Public Policy Research warning that the cancer backlog could take more than a decade to clear, it is vital that Ministers bring forward a fully resourced plan that will genuinely tackle the backlog of unmet clinical need and improve cancer care. A credible strategy to recruit the cancer workforce of the future is also essential.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this important issue.

Peter Dowd MP