Our Blood Cancer Action Plan
People’s chances of blood cancer survival are being affected by where they live, how much money they have, and their ethnic heritage. The UK is falling behind other countries when it comes to looking after people with blood cancer.
Our 2023-2024 Annual Report at a glance
Launching our Blood Cancer Action Plan
This year, we’ve been working to help build a clearer picture of where these differences and inequities exist, and what needs to change.
We brought together a taskforce of people from across the four nations, from different healthcare settings and with experience in treating, or being treated for, blood cancers.
Between April 2023 and May 2024, the Action Plan Taskforce examined and challenged evidence, provided insight and agreed recommendations for governments, the NHS, charities, the pharmaceutical industry and others.
Inequality was a persistent theme – people of minoritised ethnicity are less likely to be offered the chance to take part in research trials, and far more likely to face delays in referral for diagnosis.
Our Blood Cancer Action Plan
To address blood cancer survival in the UK, we brought together an Action Plan Taskforce that examined data and agreed recommendations for those who have the power to enact change. Now we need our blood cancer community to take action.
Blood Cancer Action plan recommendations
In September 2024, we published the key findings in our landmark Action Plan, which will focus on what needs to be done to:
- Build a strong clinical and diagnostic workforce fit for the future
- Improve referral and diagnosis for people
- Reduce barriers that prevent people getting the care they need
- Increase access to trials and treatments
- Drive improvement in outcomes for people with blood cancer through our national data.
Improving access to trials and services
We’ve been establishing a new project looking at barriers to clinical trial access for Black and Pakistani people. Next year, we’ll start mapping access to trials for people of different ethnicities in one geographical area, so we can pilot some work to break down the barriers that are getting in the way of diverse involvement in life-changing research.
We’re also expanding and tailoring our health information to reflect the diversity of the blood cancer community, working with the British Dietetic Association and British Islamic Medical Association to create guides to eating well for people with blood cancer, and promoting symptom awareness materials for African-Caribbean community events.
We’ve teamed up with an interpreting service, Language is Everything, to start offering support in more than 170 languages and we plan to promote this to people through our new hospital referral mechanism.
Information for the Black community
Get essential information about blood cancer including stories from Black people with blood cancer and where to find support.