Ringfenced radiotherapy funding

Early day motion 456, tabled 20 September 2021 by Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 23 members.

That this House is deeply concerned by the scale and severity of the covid-19 induced cancer backlog; notes Macmillan’s estimate that it will take the NHS 18 months, working at 110 per cent capacity, to clear the cancer backlog; recognises that the UK has one of the lowest cancer survivability rates in international league tables; further recognises that radiotherapy is a covid-19 safe and economical cancer treatment, costing between £4,000 and £7,000 per patient; further notes the UK’s historic underfunding of radiotherapy technologies and the woeful 27 per cent treatment rate for UK patients, in comparison to the international standard of 60 per cent; calls on the Government to support the recommendations of the APPG for Radiotherapy’s 2021 Manifesto Update; and and urges that £865 million of the new multi-billion-pound NHS funding package is ringfenced for investments which improve radiotherapy services.

Signatures by party: Labour 10, Liberal Democrat 7, Alba 1, DUP 1, Independent 1, Labour/Co-operative 1, Scottish National Party 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.