As member of One Cancer Voice (the UK Coalition of over 70 Cancer Charities) Melanoma UK is encouraging the support of the second reading of Clive Jones MP’s Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill. The reading is due on Friday 13th November in the House of Commons.
Our CEO Rachel Wallace has added her name to signatories on a letter from the coalition to the Secretory of State (Yvette Cooper) to urge support of the bill.
The Bill would require the Secretary of State to report annually to Parliament on performance against specified measures relating to cancer prevention, diagnosis, patient experience and treatment, and on ensuring research and innovations deliver better outcomes for patients. It would also require the Government to commit to publishing future cancer strategies.
The letter (in full) reads as follows….
Dear Secretary of State,
One Cancer Voice support for the Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill
We are writing as a coalition of more than 70 cancer charities, to urge you to support Clive Jones MP’s Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill, which is scheduled for Second Reading in the House of Commons on 13 November.
The Government’s National Cancer Plan for England offers a truly ambitious vision for transforming the lives of millions of patients and families across the country. This Bill will help turn your ambitions into action, by putting cancer patients at its heart. It will champion a new era for reporting and accountability, ensuring that Government action delivers tangible improvements for people affected by cancer.
The Bill would require the Secretary of State to report annually to Parliament on performance against specified measures relating to cancer prevention, diagnosis, patient experience and treatment, and on ensuring research and innovations deliver better outcomes for patients. It would also require the Government to commit to publishing future cancer strategies.
The Bill strongly supports and reinforces the ambitions set out in the Government’s National Cancer Plan for England. In particular, it aligns with Action 14, which recognises that “greater transparency will drive improvement”, and Action 21, which commits the National Cancer Board to publishing annual reports on progress and undertake an in-depth three-year review.
Crucially, the Bill would place these welcome reporting commitments on a statutory footing, ensuring that progress against the National Cancer Plan is reported annually to Parliament. This is important because many of the commitments in the Plan are long term, for example those relating to research and innovation. In doing so, it would therefore ensure that not only this Government, but future governments, remain accountable for delivering improvements in cancer outcomes and maintaining a long-term strategic focus on cancer.
Annual reporting and parliamentary scrutiny would strengthen transparency and accountability, support continuous improvement across cancer services, including patients’ experience of care, and help sustain cross-party commitment to improving outcomes for people affected by cancer.
The Bill is practical, proportionate and uncontroversial. It creates no new rights or entitlements but instead provides a clear means for reporting progress and maintaining focus on delivery. As such, it represents an invaluable opportunity to underpin the ambitions of the National Cancer Plan and demonstrate a long-term commitment to improving outcomes for cancer patients.
We therefore hope that you will support the Bill and, in doing so, send a clear message to the millions of people affected by cancer that improving cancer outcomes remains a national priority.
Yours sincerely,
One Cancer Voice signatories
We had no hesitation in supporting this letter and would encourage those with relationships with local MPs (or a penchant for contacting them) to encourage their attendance and support of the second reading on Friday 13th. It needs 40 attending MPs to be in favour of it to progress
