We’ve written to Wes Streeting to demand crucial NHS change for patients | UK | News

Do you remember how excited you were to open a letter as a child? It was a time when DMs were just at people’s feet and you didn’t know what the bills were, so everything you sent was an adventure. I felt naive at the time when I realized that the letter Belinda Carlisle had sent me had been printed and sent not just to 12-year-old me but to all her fans. I remember laughing when I received a letter from the then editor of the Evening Standard in London in response to my request for work experience. He said they were too busy to think about such a thing. I wisely refrained from responding to point out the four typos in your letter.

And I remember my disappointment, more than a few years later, when a medical professional wrote me a letter saying that his team had decided that I was too sick for one service but not sick enough for the next service. Instead of being on a waiting list, I was in medical limbo.

But when it comes to cancer, there is no such thing as not being sick enough or being too sick. This is a priority for the NHS and the Government and they want to treat as many people as possible as efficiently as possible.

They will treat someone who has precancerous cells, and they will also treat someone who only has a few days left.

But what I discovered when I was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in the summer of 2023 was that the mental health aspects of cancer were rarely talked about, let alone treated. This is despite the emotional anguish that millions of Britons with cancer experience every day.

That’s why the Daily Express launched its Cancer Care campaign. We want the government and the NHS to recognize mental health problems as a significant side effect of cancer and ensure all patients receive support during and after treatment.

I’m so grateful to all the charities and cancer campaigners who support this vital cause, and to all of you for reading the articles and signing the petition.

And now we are at a very important stage. The Government is set to publish its Cancer Plan on World Cancer Day on February 4, which will set out how it will treat the growing number of people diagnosed with the dreaded disease.

Before that, I hope to receive a response to the letter I sent today to Health Minister Wes Streeting and Ashley Dalton.

My letter outlines why mental health should be a key priority in the fight against cancer and how all patients should be supported.

I think the Cancer Plan will already include references to a holistic needs assessment, which is expected to take place after diagnosis and provide a way for patients to voice concerns about their disease and treatment.

Many hospitals, including the hospital where I completed 55 cycles of chemotherapy, say they have already made this evaluation. But evidence emerging during the campaign suggests that this is rarely the case.

In the response from Wes Streeting and Ashley Dalton, I ask them to explain how they will ensure these evaluations occur.

I would also like them to go further and meet the other demands of the Cancer Care campaign and ensure that patients are regularly asked about their mental health by their medical team. This will ensure patients are referred to the support they need.

Taking these steps will help improve millions of lives not only now but for years to come.

I’ll let you know what they say.

Full Daily Express Cancer Care Crusade letter to Wes Streeting:

The Hon Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Ashley Dalton MP, Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention

*Mental health support for cancer patients*

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are writing to encourage you to ensure that mental health support is a central part of your National Cancer Plan when it is published next month. We would like to request a meeting with you to discuss the importance of this issue.

As you both know from personal experience, cancer is the worst thing most people will experience in their lifetime, but existing mental health support is often inadequate and does not meet patients’ demands.

The Daily Express launched its Cancer Care campaign in January 2025, recognizing the importance of supporting cancer patients with emotional and mental health problems both during and after treatment.

This came about after I was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer two and a half years ago. I’ve seen first-hand how difficult it can be to access support, and I want your help to change that.

We’ve heard on the Express about people who kill themselves even though they’ve been cleared of cancer because they’re so scared it will come back. We have heard of people surviving only with the help of their family doctor or organizations like the Samaritans.

Everyone we spoke to told us how they needed support, and although some cancer departments offered mental health support, in many cases it was not available. It is very important that all cancer units offer this support to patients both during and after treatment.

By the way, I have recently been told that one of my tumors has increased slightly in size and there is uncertainty as to what this means for my treatment regimen.

The only thing that is certain is that the mental health support I needed to realize my cancer might be spreading was not available in my NHS hospital.

According to the Ministry of Health, people with cancer must receive a Holistic Needs Assessment to determine their physical, emotional and practical needs at or shortly after diagnosis.

It is vital that these needs are met not only at the diagnosis stage but also throughout the treatment. But now this situation is getting out of hand. Assessment is rarely done, and when it is, many patients say it is not fit for purpose.

The Daily Express has joined forces with cancer charities and campaigners to call for every NHS cancer patient to receive a Holistic Needs Assessment and for these assessments to be regularly updated as treatment progresses.

Mental health problems are a major side effect of all types of cancer; patients are forced to confront a new and very uncertain reality, but medical teams do not ask their patients about these issues. This must change and they must be made the focus of Holistic Needs Assessment.

We also want patients to be routinely asked about their mental health and wellbeing during discussions with their medical team; so that they can be referred for help with any problems they are experiencing, whether from low-level support such as a walking group to combat loneliness or referral to an oncology psychologist for patients experiencing extreme distress.

But hospitals only treat the physical aspects of the disease.

We would like to meet with you to discuss how mental health support should be at the heart of the National Cancer Plan. Making this happen will help improve and save millions of lives.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Robert Fisk, Daily Express reporter and Cancer Care campaign leader

Geoff Maynard, editor-in-chief of the Daily Express

Henny Braund, CEO of Anthony Nolan

Dr Michele Afif, CEO of the Brain Tumor Charity

Claire Rowney, CEO of Breast Cancer Now

Richard Ashton, CEO of the Childhood Eye Cancer Foundation

Peter McCleave, DKMS UK Managing Director

Danni Heath, director of Get-A-Head

Colin Dyer, CEO of Leukemia Care

Dame Laura Lee, CEO of Maggie’s

Lisa Walker, chief executive of Neuroendocrine Cancer UK

Julie Child, chief executive of Oracle Head and Neck Cancer UK

Diana Jupp, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK

Calvin Bailey MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Prostate Cancer Group

Oliver Kemp, CEO of Prostate Cancer Research

Laura Kerby, CEO of Prostate Cancer UK

Sarah Gray, operations and national program director for Tackle Prostate Cancer

Chris Curtis, chief executive of The Swallows Head & Neck Cancer Charity

Barbara Fountain, tongue cancer survivor and CEO and founder of Young Tongues

Jay Aston, former Bucks Fizz singer and tongue cancer survivor

Ngozi Onwuchekwa, cancer advocate and rhabdomyosarcoma survivor

Hannah Penn, cancer campaigner and skin cancer survivor