Together with our partners, we want:

  • fewer people getting cancer - through prevention, such smoking cessation advice and support
  • more people surviving cancer, with cancer diagnosed earlier and patients given the best treatment
  • more people having a good experience of their treatment and care, with faster diagnosis and support throughout the process
  • more people supported to live as well as possible after treatment has finished.

Our focus for 2026/2027

In 2026/27,  we are focussing on: 

  • Operational performance
  • Early diagnosis
  • Treatment and care
  • Cross cutting programmes.

Open the sections below to read more:

Operational performance


There are three main targets that have been set to improve cancer treatment and care for patients:

  • The Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) – people should be told if they do or don’t have a cancer within 28 days.
  • The 31-day standard – there should be no more than 31 days from a patient being told of their diagnosis to when their treatment starts.
  • The 62-day standard – people should have started treatment within 62 days of a referral. 

Early diagnosis

We have five core areas of focus for early diagnosis:

  • Timely presentation – raising public awareness
  • Primary care – improving referral practice and access to direct testing
  • Local innovations – working with local organisations, community funding bids
  • Screening – improving uptake and awareness of the national screening programmes
  • Prevention – working to improve HPV vaccine uptake and awareness.

 

 

Treatment and care

  • Reduce treatment variation using the GIRFT information to focus on the core areas of breast, lung, urology and lower GI to deliver improved outcomes
  • Streamline MDTs in urology, breast and gynae across the Alliance 
  • Deliver Personalised Stratifed Follow Up Pathways 
  • Make sure all patients receive personalised care and support planning interventions
  • Deliver psychosocial support pathways
  • Evaluate demand and capacity for SACT provision

Cross cutting programmes

 

  • Make sure the patient is at the heart of everything we do
  • Deliver the ACCEND programme and the cancer workforce strategy
  • Provide accurate and relevant data to all Alliance stakeholders to support and direct positive action