Wales only UK nation with no cancer strategy, warn charities

Cancer charities say people with cancer symptoms should visit their GP

It is hard to improve Wales' cancer services without a comprehensive national strategy for doing so, leading cancer charities have warned.

Andy Glyde, from Cancer Research UK, said Wales will soon be the only UK nation without a cancer strategy.

The World Health Organisation advises all countries to have such a plan, he told Senedd members.

Welsh ministers said they had "set out a comprehensive approach to improving cancer outcomes" earlier this year.

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Mr Glyde was giving evidence to the Senedd's health committee on Thursday on behalf of his and 19 other charities who are part of the umbrella body Wales Cancer Alliance.

"It's really difficult to see what the pathway is for improvement innovation in cancer services long term and at a national level," he said.

"The thing that we're really missing is a cancer strategy right now."

Welsh ministers, Mr Glyde said, had issued a "quality statement for cancer" in March, but he regarded that to be merely setting "minimum standards for cancer services, not really thinking about what ambition should look like and how we really transform the way that we do things".

Andy Glyde said there was also a need to plan future staffing needs

Northern Ireland was working on its plan now, he said.

"Once Northern Ireland launches theirs soon, Wales will be the only UK nation without a cancer strategy.

"And we must remember that the World Health Organisation do recommend that every country has a cancer strategy.

"And until we have that it's really difficult to see what the pathway is for improvement innovation in cancer services long term and at a national level."

'Not up to scratch'

Mr Glyde said there was also an urgent need to plan the future staffing needs for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

"We can set up all these new pathways, we can invest in lots of equipment and stuff, but unless we've got the right staff in place to make that happen it's not actually going to make the demonstrable difference that cancer patients are looking for."

Welsh Conservative health spokesman Russell George said: "Devolution was supposed to be about Wales having opportunities to move faster than other parts of the UK and get better results, not falling behind."

Accusing ministers of putting people "at risk with the lack of a proper strategy to fight cancer", he said: "What is currently in place is not up to scratch."

How do ministers defend their stance?

A Welsh government spokesperson said ministers had "set out a comprehensive approach to improving cancer outcomes in our quality statement for cancer".

"This includes important commitments to recover from the impact of the pandemic, meet the suspected cancer pathway waiting time and detect cancer at earlier stages.

"Health boards and trusts will plan and deliver cancer services in response to these commitments."