What the launch of the National Cancer Plan means for NEL

World Cancer Day (4 February) marked the launch of the National Cancer Plan. Femi Odewale, Managing Director of North East London Cancer Alliance, reflects on what this means nationally and locally.

Reducing health inequalities sits at the heart of the plan, which strongly reflects the reality of the communities we serve. North east London is one of the most diverse areas in the country, with many people living in areas of significant deprivation, and addressing this has long been a core priority for North East London Cancer Alliance.

We are already making progress to address inequalities in cancer outcomes across our area. Our work includes improving screening uptake, supporting earlier diagnosis and engaging directly with communities who face barriers to accessing services. This includes targeted work with Black African, Black Caribbean and South Asian communities, partnerships with faith settings, and a lung cancer screening programme that is delivering particularly strong results in early diagnosis in some of the most deprived areas in NEL.

One of our flagship initiatives – HPV self-sampling for cervical screening – was referenced in the National Cancer Plan as a case study. Delivered across five boroughs with historically low screening uptake, the programme achieved significantly higher engagement than previous campaigns, particularly among ethnic minority communities and people living in more deprived areas. This demonstrates the potential of self-sampling to reduce health inequalities.

NHS Long Term Plan and cancer priorities

The National Cancer Plan aligns closely with the NHS Long Term Plan and is built around three major shifts: From analogue to digital, from sickness to prevention, and from hospital to community.

Much of this is already underway in NEL, including the use of AI to speed up lung cancer and skin cancer diagnosis, reducing waiting times for results from around three weeks to just three days, a virtual hospital tour to help patients feel more prepared and supported ahead of their appointments, and Community Diagnostic Centres offering one-stop services closer to where people live.

Alongside this, we are developing initiatives to support people living with and beyond cancer, from health and wellbeing programmes to helping people stay active.

Primary care, VCSE and neighbourhood partnerships

Partnership working at neighbourhood level will be critical to delivering the ambitions of the National Cancer Plan in north east London. Primary care, community pharmacies and our voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) partners are often the most trusted and accessible points of contact for local residents, particularly in communities experiencing the greatest health inequalities.

Our workforce

None of this progress would be possible without our workforce, and supporting, growing and sustaining the cancer workforce across north east London is a key priority for us. We are in the process of launching a new cancer workforce strategy, developed in partnership with our providers and system partners, to ensure we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right places to deliver high-quality, compassionate care now and in the future.

My thoughts as Managing Director

What is set out in the National Cancer Plan gives us a real opportunity to build on the strong platform we have created over the last few years.

I am very excited by what the plan offers. It is ambitious, but also realistic and achievable. We have already made significant progress over the past five years, and the potential for what we can deliver over the next ten years is genuinely inspiring.

Femi Odewale, Managing Director of the North East London Cancer Alliance