.
East of England Cancer Strategy
This strategy has been developed collaboratively with East of England Cancer Alliance, NHS Systems, charity partners and patients. Its ambition is to ensure we anticipate and respond to the needs of our growing population in preventing and caring for all people affected by cancer over the next five years (published Sept 2022). It encompasses all types of cancer and each part of the cancer pathway, from prevention through diagnostics and treatment to personalised support once treatment finishes including supportive, palliative and end of life care. You can read the strategy in full here.
As part of our work to develop the new strategy, we carried out a detailed assessment of cancer services in the East of England and, in particular, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The new East of England Cancer Outcomes Project: The Impact of the Pandemic Report can be found here.
Cancer referrals, treatments and diagnoses were impacted during the pandemic. We saw a reduction in early stage diagnoses and a rise in emergency presentations that, without the mitigations and actions described in the strategy, will potentially impact on survival outcomes for patients.