Radiotherapy is a key treatment for many people affected by cancer, and it plays a critical role in both curing early-stage cancer and in palliative care. It is also a hugely innovative cancer treatment which represents the cutting-edge of medical innovation. However, shortages in staff and equipment, and a lack of public awareness, have limited its availability.
Our campaign called for all radiotherapy services in England to have:
A sufficiently staffed and highly trained workforce.
The best treatments for all cancer patients regardless of where they live.
The capacity to plan as demand grows and more cancers are diagnosed earlier.
From collecting signatures in shops, to Campaign Ambassadors petitioning in their local areas, we gathered 36,000 petition signatures in total. This petition was presented to then-Prime Minister David Cameron.
After handing in our petition in 2011, for the first time in five years, the UK Government published a report assessing the current state of radiotherapy services in England with recommendations for action.
A Radiotherapy Innovation Fund of £23 million was given to radiotherapy centres in England to deliver advanced forms of radiotherapy.
The UK Government invested £250 million in the opening of two cutting-edge proton beam therapy units in London and Manchester. This treatment is particularly successful in complex childhood cancers, increasing success rates and reducing side effects.
In August 2013, the UK Government announced an additional £30 million to buy 20 new machines that delivered standard radiotherapy and more advanced intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).
In 2014, we worked with the NHS England to produce our ‘Vision for Radiotherapy’ for the next 10 years.
In 2018, we launched our Shoulder to Shoulder Against Cancer campaign in the NHS’s 70th birthday year to ask the UK Government to train and employ more staff to diagnose and treat cancer early.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was estimated that around 38,000 fewer people received vital cancer treatment, so we launched this urgent campaign
We achieved a lot over the last 12 months, bringing the UK closer to having world class radiotherapy services. Here’s a quick run-down of what happened, and when.
Radiotherapy is a key treatment for many people affected by cancer, and it plays an important role in both curing early-stage cancer and in helping to ease some symptoms for people with terminal illness. But, like many other cancer services in the UK, radiotherapy is facing huge challenges.
Radiotherapy is cutting-edge, curative and cost-effective. We want every person having radiotherapy to have high-quality, modern radiotherapy, and for there to be equitable access to the most innovative types of treatments across the UK.
Learn about the ways our campaigner community is driving political action to help beat cancer.
Join our community of over 50,000 online campaigners across the UK.
Take part in our community of over 200 volunteer Campaign Ambassadors helping to influence governments across the UK to take action on cancer and driving improvements for cancer in their local communities.
