The NHS caught my cancer – but with AI it can save many more lives

Our health service is in need of urgent reform, writes health secretary Wes Streeting – and it must embrace innovations if we want to turn the tide on cancer

The NHS saved my life. There’s no doubt about it. I went into A&E with kidney stones but came out with a cancer diagnosis. And that is the best of the NHS in action. Had that meticulous doctor not spotted my cancer on the X-ray, I may not be here today.

Yet I know, sadly, many cancer patients don’t experience the NHS at its best.

The tough reality is that, after years of neglect, too many patients face long waits, delayed diagnoses and critical gaps in the urgent care they so desperately need.

Limbo is a horrible place to be when it comes to your health – I should know. I had multiple follow-up appointments cancelled after my treatment and spent endless nights worrying about whether my cancer had gone, or worse, had returned. That’s why reducing lives lost to cancer is so personal to me.

From research to prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment, we need to take urgent action across the board. Last week, I strengthened targets for the NHS around cancer, which should see 19,000 more patients each year starting their treatment within 62 days, and 100,000 more patients receiving confirmation of their cancer diagnosis quicker too. We need to be ambitious about this, given how aggressive rates are climbing, with one in two expected to receive that dreaded diagnosis in their lifetime. But targets alone aren’t enough.

Today, I’m underpinning those targets with the National Cancer Plan, launching a call for evidence to hear how we can fight this disease on all fronts, informed by leading medical experts and reflecting on the lived experiences of patients themselves. This plan will outline step by step how we can save lives and improve care for every patient, leveraging every tool and every bit of expertise, to achieve our ambition of cutting mortality rates.

Incredible discoveries are happening in the cancer space all the time, but if we want to truly turn the tide on cancer, the government needs to do more to embrace these innovations.

Harnessing those tools will be vital to achieving this ambition. Nearly every week, we are seeing cancer breakthroughs – look at the launch of the Edith trial today, which will use artificial intelligence to help detect breast cancer. Incredible discoveries are happening in the cancer space all the time, but if we want to truly turn the tide on cancer, the government needs to do more to embrace these innovations. Moving from analogue to digital is one of the three big shifts I proposed to make the NHS fit for the future. We’re on the precipice of radically changing cancer care, but that means a clear strategy is more critical than ever.

Fantastic work is happening behind the scenes to tackle cancer on all fronts, driven by all the incredible staff working in the NHS to support people through their cancer battle every day.

This government is going to build on that foundation, transforming cancer care to save even more lives and beat this disease. Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS was our starting point. Real reform through our 10-Year Health Plan to shift from sickness to prevention, hospital to community, and from analogue to digital, will set our direction.

Now, let’s turn our attention to one of the biggest killers this country faces. We owe it to patients, staff, and all the incredible organisations working in this space to deliver a bold, effective plan of action that brings us together on our journey to beating cancer.