CLIVE JONES MP for Wokingham, has welcomed the launch of the Government’s National Cancer Plan.
But he also warned that the lack of new funding means it will fall short of delivering for patients.
Clive Jones was the first MP to call for a National Cancer Plan in October 2024.
Since his election he has consistently raised cancer care in the House of Commons, pressing ministers on missed treatment targets and calling for urgent action to tackle workforce shortages and delays in diagnosis.
He has previously spoken about his own experience of cancer and has used that experience to campaign for earlier diagnoses and better treatment for patients.
He said: “Cancer affects half of the UK’s population in some form.
“ I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.
“My diagnosis was delayed after my symptoms were dismissed by a GP, who told me that men do not get breast cancer.
“This delay allowed the cancer to spread to my lymph nodes.”
The National Cancer Plan focuses on rare and less survivable cancers, which Clive Jones consistently called for to be included, including during his Westminster Hall Debate on less survivable cancers.
It also aims to catch rarer cancers earlier, give patients better access to research and clinical trials, and appoint a national lead for rare cancers.
And it introduces easier ways for patients to get care, improves breast cancer screening for those at higher risk, and aims to make the NHS App the main way to manage cancer care by 2028.
But Clive Jones is concerned that the NHS has not met the 62-day target for treatment to begin since 2015, and says that urgent improvement is needed.
“The ambitious promises set out in this plan look good on paper, but without new and targeted funding they will be extremely difficult to deliver,” he explained.
“Without meaningful investment, early diagnoses will continue to be delayed, workforce shortages will persist, research will suffer, and children and those with less survivable cancers will continue to face worse outcomes.
“I urge the Government to commit the targeted funding needed to reform cancer care in the UK to ensure this plan changes the lives of cancer patients.”
Clive Jones has raised concerns about delays locally.
At the Royal Berkshire Hospital 721 patients waited longer than the 62-day standard between January and November 2025, according to Liberal Democrat data.
Across the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board area, 71.6% of patients began treatment within 62 days, below the national target of 85% according to Cancer Research UK.
For information, visit: gov.uk/government (search for National Cancer Plan).
