Labour candidate for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan has said his party’s plan will get the NHS meeting its cancer targets by the end of a first term in government.
This week Labour launched its plan to end the cancer backlog, as new projections reveal 700,000 cancer patients will wait too long for treatment if the Conservatives are given another five years.
Last year, 102,000 cancer patients (more than 1-in-3) waited longer than two months for treatment following an urgent cancer referral.
Mr Morgan has long track record of speaking up for local health services and frontline staff in Parliament, and campaigning for our NHS to be properly funded, staffed, and resourced.
The Labour candidate for Portsmouth South has also successfully lobbied for a new medical school and A&E department for our city.
The NHS aims to treat cancer patients within two months of an urgent referral for treatment, but the target hasn’t been met under the Conservatives since 2015.
That includes Nathaniel Dye, a terminal bowel cancer patient who spoke at the launch of Labour’s manifesto this week. He waited over 100 days to start treatment, by which time his cancer was terminal.
New projections reveal that – if the Conservatives win a fifth term- around 700,000 cancer patients will wait longer than two months to begin treatment over the next five years, based on current NHS performance.
Labour’s plan to catch cancer on time includes:
- Delivering an extra 40,000 appointments, tests and scans a week at evenings and weekends
- Doubling the number of CT & MRI scanners, with new, AI-enabled scanners.
- The biggest expansion of NHS staff in history
- Using spare capacity in the private sector to get patients diagnosed faster
- Introducing a progressive ban on smoking, so this generation of young people can never legally smoke.
This plan is fully costed and fully funded, paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and closing non-dom loopholes.
Commenting, Labour candidate for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan said:
“It is tragic that so many people with cancer in Portsmouth and across the country are currently waiting too long for treatment. Sorting this out should be a priority for any government.
“Unfortunately, the latest projections show 700,000 cancer patients will wait too long for treatment if the Conservatives are given another five years.
“Labour’s fully-funded plan will end this scandal and get the NHS meeting its cancer targets by the end of a first term in government.”
Wes Streeting, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:
“Having gone through treatment for kidney cancer, I know that the earlier cancer is caught, the better chance of survival.
“Since the Conservatives took office in 2010, hundreds of thousands of patients have waited too long for tests, scans, and treatment.
“If the Conservatives are given another five years, nothing will change, the crisis in cancer care will continue, and hundreds of thousands more cancer patients will wait too long.
“Labour’s fully-funded and fully-costed plan will catch cancer on time, diagnosing earlier and treating it faster to save lives. We will also prevent cancer in the first place, passing a progressive ban on tobacco so young people today are even less likely to smoke than they are to vote Tory.”
Mr Morgan has been speaking up for local health services and standing up for frontline staff in Parliament through lobbying for our NHS to be properly funded, staffed, and resourced, and will continue to pay visits to local NHS services to listen to concerns.
