Yesterday, the UK went to the polls in the General Election 2024 to vote for the next government. With almost every seat now declared, it’s clear that Labour have won a majority and will form the next government. With a simple majority of between 174-178 MPs depending on the final results, fulfilling some of their pledges without too much opposition should be relatively straight forward.
As we speak, the Labour Party will be forming the next government. This includes deciding who’ll be the next Secretary of State for Health and who’ll become the next Health Ministers.
We know what Labour’s initial plans and visions are for health and care because of the pledges in their manifesto. But what happens next for our It’s A No Brainer campaign calling for a National Brain Tumour Strategy?
The National Brain Tumour Strategy campaign so far!
Over 52,000 people signed our open letter calling on the government to implement a National Brain Tumour Strategy.
In April, we delivered the open letter to the then Health Minister, Andrew Stephenson, and his counterparts across the devolved nations – making sure your voices were heard loud and clear in Westminster, Holyrood, the Senedd and Stormont.
When the General Election 2024 was called, we knew a lot would change – including a change in Westminster’s Health Minister, Prime Minister and government – but our message hasn’t!
We still want a National Brain Tumour Strategy!
What have Labour promised to do?
Labour’s manifesto included a number of promising pledges about health and care, including improving diagnosis times, decreasing the time it takes to receive treatment and delivering the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan. We believe this will go some way towards improving the experience for people living with a brain tumour.
They’ve also pledged to approaching research in a more holistic way, recognising that, alongside funding, it also needs structural changes to improve the landscape. This is exactly what we’ve spoken about in calling for a National Brain Tumour Strategy – how research funding is just one element of the picture.
But there are still lots of things that weren’t included in the manifesto. For example, there is no mention of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) and how vital their role is for so many people receiving treatment and care, not just people with a brain tumour.
Manifestos are usually quite top line and focus on the direction a party wants to go in. So, it isn’t unexpected that Labour’s manifesto doesn’t include every element of their plans to improve treatment and care in the UK.
But this doesn’t mean we won’t be making our voices – and the voices of the wider brain tumour community – loud and clear from the moment they form the new government.
What are we going to do about a National Brain Tumour Strategy?
Firstly, we need to update the new Secretary of State and relevant Health Ministers on our open letter and the support we had. This will include explaining why implementing a National Brain Tumour Strategy is the right thing to do for the brain tumour community.
Then we’ll need to start engaging the new MPs – as well as the re-elected MPs – and build new relationships that can help support us in parliament over the next five years.
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