The Westminster government has announced a , setting out a wide-ranging strategy to speed up diagnosis and treatment, but the RCN says the proposals will only succeed if nursing staff are placed at the centre of delivery.
RCN Chief Nursing Officer Lynn Woolsey said: “This is an ambitious plan that can improve outcomes for those of us who will get a cancer diagnosis in our lifetime. It also rightly recognises the crucial role specialist nurses, such as Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs), can play in delivering it. Our highly skilled profession stands ready.”
The plan commits the NHS in England to meeting all cancer waiting time standards by 2029, with hundreds of thousands more patients starting treatment within 62 days. It includes a major expansion of robot-assisted surgery and faster access to diagnostics.
Further measures include more specialist centres for rare cancers and improved access to clinical trials through the NHS App.
Despite the scale of this strategy, the government made little reference to the nursing workforce in its announcement. We believe nursing staff are intrinsic to the success of this plan.
Lynn continued: “The reality is that a successful cancer plan needs nursing staff at its heart.
“That includes highly skilled ANPs and cancer nurse specialists who devise and deliver person-centred treatment plans, but also community, district, and palliative care nursing staff who help people recover and live with cancer from home.
“Meeting targets, reducing waiting times and helping people live longer needs highly skilled nurses as well as new technologies. We now look forward to seeing how in the upcoming workforce plan ministers intend to grow and nurture the nursing leaders who will help transform cancer care.”
