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Save our support

The future of cancer care is under threat and hard-working health and care professionals are at breaking point. We need politicians across the UK to put the right plans and the right funding in place to make sure people with cancer get the vital care and support they need. Macmillan campaigners across the UK are calling on politicians to urgently address the workforce crisis. Will you join us by adding your name?

Stop cancer becoming the forgotten 'C'

Now, more than ever, people living with cancer need to be able to get the right treatment, care and support, at the right time.

Find out how you can take action to stop cancer becoming the forgotten ‘C’ in your nation.

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One in two. That’s the chance of getting cancer in a lifetime.

Improvements in diagnosis and treatment mean that more people are surviving or living longer with cancer. But there is a problem. Hard-working health and care professionals on the frontline need urgent support. Workloads are unmanageable and there is simply not enough staff to be there for you as they want to.

These pressures mean that many health and care professionals do not feel valued, or able to deliver the high quality, personalised patient care that they wish to. In our biggest ever survey of people living with cancer, 68% told us they are not getting the support they need from the NHS, and it’s affecting their physical and mental health. This is unacceptable.

We need the right number of NHS and care professionals with the right skills to ensure people with cancer get the vital care and support they need. Three million people are now living with cancer in the UK. That’s higher than ever before, so your support has never been more vital.

Let’s support the NHS and care workforce so that people living with cancer get the world-class care and support they deserve. Let’s put the frontline first and save our support.

Click on your nation to see what's happening and find out how you can get involved.

'One in five (22%) Cancer Nurse Specialists took annual leave to undertake continuous profesional development'. An illustration of one dark green man next to 4 light green men to demonstrate the statistic.

We are campaigning for politicians to save our support. Join our call for urgent action.

Add your name
An illustrated map of England with the text 'England' on a purple background. More info

England

Macmillan wants people to live life as fully as they can. Yet, right now, hard-working health and care professionals on the frontline are at breaking point. There isn’t enough staff or the resources for training to deliver the best care and support for people with cancer.

In our biggest ever survey of people living with cancer, 68% told us they are not getting the support they need from the NHS, and it’s affecting their physical and mental health. This is unacceptable. If politicians don’t make changes to support the workforce with the right plans and funding now, people will struggle to get the care and support they need. We need your help to make sure the voices of people living with cancer are heard.

We'd love it if you can help us grow our movement. You can:

A few minutes of your time can make all the difference.

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Northern Ireland More info

Northern Ireland

Macmillan wants people in Northern Ireland to live life as fully as they can. Yet right now, too many people living with cancer in Northern Ireland are not getting the care and support they need. We don’t have the number of health and social care professionals we need, with the right skills, working together in the right way for people living with cancer to meet all of their needs. Without urgent action from the Northern Ireland Assembly, people living with cancer will be at risk.

Macmillan is right there campaigning on your behalf for changes across the system. But we can’t do this on our own.

We need your help to call on Health Minister Swann to make tackling this crisis an urgent priority.

We need the Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure there is:

  • A costed cancer workforce plan at the heart of the NI Cancer Strategy based on realistic estimates of the workforce numbers required to meet the needs of people living with cancer
  • Adequate investment in the right places so that our health service can retain, develop and employ enough health care professionals with the right skill mix
  • We need him to approve the NI Cancer Strategy 
  • Secure investment so that the NI Cancer Strategy is properly funded and urgently implemented.


We'd love it if you can help us grow our movement. You can:

A few minutes of your time can make all the difference.

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Scotland More info

Scotland

Macmillan wants people in Scotland to live life as fully as they can. Health and social care staff tell us they are overstretched, that the system is not sustainable, that morale is low, and we that have an ageing workforce. The NHS and social care system in Scotland simply does not have enough of a workforce to cope with the growing numbers and needs of people with cancer. 

Now that the Scottish Government has published its workforce plan, we need: 

  • A fully-costed implementation plan that shows how the cancer care system will meet the current challenges, and those we know are coming with ever-increasing numbers of people living with cancer
  • a national approach to workforce development and deployment. We need to increase the available capacity to respond to people's needs and deploy differently, adding value to the workforce through volunteering and the third sector
  • Better data collection and integrated data, with analysis of the social care system and partnership working with the third sector
  • A fully-funded national approach to accelerate recruitment and retention strategies, including in remote areas.

Right now, you can help us grow our movement:

A few minutes of your time can make all the difference.

Macmillan will be asking supporters to contact their MSPs in the Scottish Parliament to help drive improvements to the cancer workforce across Scotland. Watch this space for future campaign actions.

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Wales More info

Wales

Macmillan wants people in Wales to live life as fully as they can. Yet right now, too many people living with cancer in Wales are not getting the care and support they need. We don’t have the number of health and social care professionals we need, with the right skills, working together in the right way for people living with cancer to meet all of their needs. Without urgent action from the Welsh Government, people living with cancer will be at risk.

Macmillan is right there campaigning on your behalf for changes across the system. But we can’t do this on our own.

We need your help to call on the Health and Social Services Minister, Vaughan Gething AM, to make tackling this crisis an urgent priority.

We need the Welsh Government to ensure there is:

  • A fully costed Welsh workforce strategy to meet the needs of people living with cancer and address gaps in the current workforce
  • A programme of recruitment and training to build and attract the right talent to Wales
  • An ambitious new cancer strategy that will build on existing plans and set the direction for care well into the future. 
  • The right investment in the right places so that our health service can retain, develop and employ enough health care professionals with the right skill mix.

We'd love it if you can help us grow our movement. You can:

A few minutes of your time can make all the difference.

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