Contribution
You will not be surprised to hear, Mrs Hobhouse, that it is a pleasure to serve under you. I thank the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing this important debate. I declare an interest: my lovely wife has worked as part of the NHS workforce in Scotland for around 30 years, and on Monday she is due to start a one-year secondment to the Marie Curie hospice in Edinburgh, so I take this opportunity to wish her well. As I have more time to speak debate than expected, let me also take this opportunity to thank all the people in Edinburgh South West who raise money for that hospice, including BobCat Alpacas, which recently raised around £10,000 at its open day.
This morning I met with MacMillan Cancer support, as I am sure other Members did too. I want to recognise its efforts across the UK in supporting people facing a diagnosis, as well as recognising groups in my constituency such as The House of Hope, which supports people with a breast cancer diagnosis. We have to recognise the pressure that NHS staff are under—not just my lovely wife, but staff right across the NHS in the UK, although I will start by talking about England.
The pressure on the staff who are supporting cancer patients in the NHS is why I absolutely welcome the forthcoming workforce plan and the national cancer strategy. I hope they can make a real difference to staff and cancer patients in England. I am proud that it is a Labour Government that are showing real ambition—the word ambition is important here—but I support Cancer Research UK’s ask for a dedicated cancer workforce planning strategy. I also agree with Leukaemia UK that the 10-year workforce plan must enable and support the delivery of the national cancer plan. I am sure that is not a controversial view—it makes absolute sense.
I have been lucky to table a private Member’s Bill on rare cancers, and through that I have met many cancer charities. I have to say that all of them respect the work of the hon. Member for Wokingham—I am trying to find one that does not, but they all do. I recently met with Blood Cancer UK to talk about its work, and it informed me about this debate. I was asked to raise the situation in haematology in England, which is particularly concerning.
Blood cancer accounts for a third of cancer deaths in the UK, but Blood Cancer UK says that treatment is continuously impacted by staffing shortages. It told me about how one patient shared that they had had seven different consultants in the past five years, and they were terrified about not knowing who to contact if their symptoms got worse—not a great situation. Figures from Blood Cancer UK show that in south-east England the vacancies for advanced haematologist nurse practitioner roles are 111% greater than the numbers in post, so there are more vacancies than people in post. That impacts both patients and the staff in post, for whom it must be incredibly stressful.
I hope that in the upcoming workforce plan the Government recognise the central role that haematologists play in cancer care. We have to recognise that having a haematology workforce that is staffed to the correct level has benefits well beyond cancer care. I hope the Government will put measures in place to address the shortfalls. As the hon. Member for Wokingham said, steps to drive up the recruitment and retention of clinical nurses will be crucial.
Let me turn to Scotland, where of course health is devolved. Back in August, I welcomed the news that the risk of dying from cancer in Scotland had reached a record low, which is a fantastic landmark. However, the data only covered the period up to 2022. In 2025, cancer waiting times in Scotland have never been worse. The Royal College of Radiologists has indicated that, without addressing staffing, the situation will only get even worse. Right now, that seems unthinkable. Data shows that there is a 25% shortage of radiologists—again, a discipline that has benefits well beyond cancer care—and a 19% shortage of oncologists. One in five consultant haematologists are near retirement, and there is low recruitment into the sector, so patient groups are very concerned about what that means for the future.
The Scottish Government say that they are investing in cancer treatment, yet patients have been failed and left without effective care—that is the reality when we look beyond the press releases. Hon. Members do not have to take my word for it: Dr Iain Kennedy, who chairs the Scottish council of the British Medical Association, said that Scotland is now divided between people who can afford to go private and those forced to “languish” on NHS waiting lists. We often think about people going private for cosmetic work, or perhaps even hip surgery, but if people in Scotland, or anywhere, are going private for cancer care, that is a real inequality.
Cancer mortality rates for the poorest in Scotland are 78% higher than those for the richest. That shames me as a Scot, and I want change. The Scottish Government are failing to address the very low staffing levels that feed these issues. There is no workforce plan. The UK Government are currently looking at one, but there is none in Scotland. They actually had one, which expired in March this year. I checked it this morning, and it did not even mention cancer care. Perhaps that is why we have the worst cancer waiting times on record.
While the UK Government are taking action through the workforce plan, which I look forward to hearing more about from the Minister, the situation in Scotland looks like it can only get worse. We will have an election for the Holyrood Parliament next year. I hope that cancer care is a key part of the discussion, because it is in real crisis in Scotland. The country needs change. Our NHS needs change.