Welcoming the National Cancer Plan
19 February 2026
What's involved, and what we're calling for in the coming months...
If you haven’t yet seen it, the government recently published its long-awaited National Cancer Plan for England.
The plan commits to improving five-year survival for all cancers to 75 per cent by 2035, and we were pleased to see ovarian cancer highlighted and key actions outlined when it comes to improving survival rates.
It’s vital that actions from this plan are expedited to help avoid more unnecessary deaths from ovarian cancer.
We were pleased that the voices of people affected by ovarian cancer were included in the plan and that their experiences have helped shape the ambitious next steps too.
As we know, early diagnosis of ovarian cancer is of paramount importance when it comes to improving people’s outcomes and it was great to see this highlighted in the plan, alongside commitments to improve it.
We're committed to playing our part and supporting the plan by raising awareness of the symptoms across the North West. After all, our ambitious vision is to ensure a future where no-one in the North West dies from ovarian cancer.
We would welcome commitment from the Government to ensuring that symptom-awareness is an important part of their agenda, helping empower people across our region to know what to look out for and see their GP if they’re worried.
This would help avoid the crisis-point hit by many – 40 per cent of women in England are diagnosed with ovarian cancer at A&E, just as Dianne was.
The plan also highlights proposed easier access to clinical trials or new treatments, as well as the delivery of new cancer manuals, helping set a standard around what good care looks like for people with ovarian cancer. We hope that the Government will ensure that ovarian cancer is included in the first tranche of these to improve experiences and consistency of care.
It’s really important that this plan doesn’t just remain as words on a page.
Tangible, deliverable, and most importantly, effective action is needed, and it’s needed urgently – especially here in the North West where ovarian cancer prevalence is 10 per cent higher than the rest of the country.
The government’s recent pledge to end the cancer postcode lottery is of paramount importance here in the North West.
Some parts of our region, such as Cumbria and Lancashire have recorded the most disproportionate rates for ovarian cancer at 22 per cent and 16 percent above the rest of England.
This is unacceptable and we're keen to support initiatives working to improve these rates, working alongside the government and other partners to help them achieve vital improvements fast.
As we all know, commitments and ambitions need to quickly deliver the actions needed to ensure as many lives are saved as possible.
We’ll continue to collaborate with others and spread the word about ovarian cancer symptoms, and look forward to hearing more about how the National Cancer Plan will be rolled out over the coming weeks, months and years.
