Labour’s Wes Streeting guarantees most cancers remedy ‘match for a King’ for everyone
Labour is pledging cancer treatment “fit for a king” for everybody.
Wes Streeting vowed to get the NHS meeting its targets for the disease by the end of the party’s first term of office. The NHS aims to treat cancer patients within two months of an urgent referral.
But the target has not been met since 2015 and around a third wait longer – a total of 102,000 people last year.
And Labour estimates that over 730,000 cancer patients will be waiting too long for ops if the Tories stay in power for another five years. That is based on a Cancer Research prediction that 2.2 million people will be diagnosed over that period – and the current situation of a third having to wait longer than two months.
Shadow health secretary Mr Streeting has himself survived cancer after an NHS op to remove a kidney caught the disease in time in 2021, when he was 38. He told us: “As someone who has been through the mill with cancer and come out the other side, I know how important early diagnosis is.”
Mr Streeting told of his admiration for the King and Princess of Wales for how they have dealt with the disease. He said: “I think it’s a reminder to all of us that cancer doesn’t discriminate. You can be from the poorest family in the land or you can be the king. I’m absolutely determined to do everything within my power to make sure that you get cancer treatment fit for a king – no matter who you are, no matter what your background.”
The MP for Ilford, in North-East London, also spoke movingly about constituent Nathaniel Dye – who gave a powerful speech about his terminal cancer diagnosis at Labour’s manifesto launch on Wednesday. The 38-year-old music teacher told how he had to wait 15 weeks between seeing his GP and starting treatment for what turned out to be stage-four bowel cancer.
Mr Streeting said: “In my case, the NHS was there for me when I needed it. I’m cancer-free and my prognosis is good. In Nathaniel’s case, the NHS wasn’t there and he’s facing a death sentence. For me, this is personal. The NHS saved my life and I want to spend my life saving the NHS. I feel survivor’s guilt about the fact that my outcomes were so much better than Nathaniel and cancer patients like him… through luck. I want to make sure the NHS is there for everyone when they need it.”
Yesterday, Mr Streeting toured Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop, Notts, with party leader Keir Starmer.
He added: “Cancer’s the canary in the coalmine. If we can’t treat cancer effectively, we aren’t treating anything effectively. That’s the harsh truth. People at the start of their careers have never seen the NHS at its best.
“But there are people at the top of their game who do remember what it was like under Labour. And I want to lead the team that achieves something truly historic – taking the NHS from its worst crisis in history, getting it back on its feet and making sure it is fit for the future.”
