We want a world class radiotherapy service accessible for all cancer patients.

We want the best radiotherapy treatment for cancer as close to home as possible. 1 in 2 of us will at some point develop cancer, meaning 1 in 4 of us need radiotherapy at some point in our lifetime. More investment is critical; despite the need, radiotherapy only receives 5% of the UK cancer budget.

We’re asking to increase the NHS Cancer budget dedicated to radiotherapy from 5% to 6.5%, and a one-off £250 million investment to modernise existing machines and build satellite radiotherapy centres to ensure accessible service nationwide. UK cancer survival rates are well below European average. If the UK achieved best European levels, 10k more patients would survive per year. Radiotherapy has a huge part to play in giving the people of the UK the cancer treatment service they deserve.

Cancer survival rates are at their highest level, but we accept that cancer survival in England has historically lagged behind the best performing countries in Europe and the World. However, it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons due to time lag and issues with data completeness. As a result, we should be careful about using these comparisons as a measure of the current performance of the system, although they can be useful as a long-term benchmark.

Modernising radiotherapy services is crucial to improving cancer survival rates, with 55,000 more people surviving 5 years post diagnosis by 2028. Over the last two years, we have invested £130m in modernising radiotherapy equipment, with over 80 machines funded for replacement or upgrade across the country since October 2016. We are also shortly publishing new radiotherapy service specifications to establish 11 radiotherapy networks – ensuring everyone across the country can access high quality care. These networks will be a significant undertaking: we are committed to ensuring their success and therefore intend to provide additional resources over and above the normal funding of radiotherapy services to support their establishment.

Service specification update Final service specifications setting out the detailed function and requirements of Radiotherapy Networks and Radiotherapy providers are due to be published imminently, following publication of the Long Term Plan. The establishment of Radiotherapy Networks is designed to improve access to high quality, innovative and advanced radiotherapy, as close to home as possible. Alongside the publication of the service specifications, NHS England will also publish a report setting out stakeholders’ feedback during public consultation and NHS England’s response. 45-minute access is not a mandatory requirement in the service specification as Networks will want to consider and balance a range of factors in relation to service configuration. Furthermore, Public Health England’s report in June 2018, on the impact of travel times on rates of radiotherapy treatment found no statistically significant effect. The report is available here: http://www.ncin.org.uk/cancer_type_and_topic_specific_work/topic_specific_work/travel_times