Tackling cancer over the next five years

A strategy and action plan for tackling cancer in the county over the next five years has been published.
Northumberland Gazette latestNorthumberland Gazette latest
Northumberland Gazette latest

The Northumberland Cancer Strategy (2018-2023) provides an over-arching framework, setting out the governance and priorities of partners across the system.

Delivery will be monitored against the associated Northumberland Cancer Action Plan.

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More than 2,000 people in Northumberland are diagnosed with and treated for cancer each year and more than 13,000 people are currently living with cancer.

The vision of the strategy is for Northumberland to have:

Fewer people getting preventable cancers;

More people surviving for longer after a diagnosis of cancer;

Reduced inequalities in survival from cancer in Northumberland;

More people with cancer having a positive experience of care and support;

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More people with cancer having a better long-term quality of life.

Key issues that the action plan will help to address include:

An estimated 42 per cent of cancer cases each year in the UK are preventable, linked to a combination of 14 major lifestyle and other risk factors. Smoking alone accounts for 19 per cent of all cancer cases;

Despite similar levels of overall socioeconomic deprivation, lung cancer incidence, survival and mortality in Northumberland compare unfavourably with the England average;

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There are marked socioeconomic inequalities in cancer screening uptake;

Adults with learning disabilities have lower uptake of cancer screening than adults without learning disabilities;

There is marked variation between general practices in factors associated with early diagnosis;

After several years of high performance in meeting cancer waiting times targets, the target of 85 per cent of patients being treated within 62 days of GP referral has not been met during five out of the first six months of 2017/18.