Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour’s Shadow Public Health Minister, commenting on the publication of NHS England’s cancer plan, said:

“Any extra support for cancer services is welcome, but we’ll need to wait and see whether this plan will be enough to repair the damage done to cancer care since the Tories came to power.

“Sadly, the huge progress made on cancer care under the last Labour government has stalled. More and more patients are having to wait longer to get tested for cancer and cuts to the national Cancer Drugs Fund mean fewer life-extending treatments are now available on the NHS. Jeremy Hunt talks about world-class cancer services, but the truth is too many patients are getting second-class care on his watch.

“It’s time Ministers woke up to the damage their policies are doing to the NHS and started taking action to deliver the improvements in cancer care we all want to see.”