World Cancer Day 2025

With one in two people in the UK expected to receive a cancer diagnosis during their lifetime, no one’s lives will be left untouched by the disease which is currently a leading cause of death worldwide. This World Cancer Day we want to reflect on the huge efforts that are being made to support cancer patients and their families, and how independent providers are working with their colleagues across the health system to support both NHS and private patients through the diagnosis, treatment and wider research about this most devastating of diseases.

According to Healthcode, the independent sector currently delivers around 350,000 episodes of care for private cancer patients each year in the UK – supporting people all across their cancer journey whether that’s through medication, vital diagnostic scans and tests, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or complex cancer surgery.

Indeed, the latest figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN), show record numbers of patients are paying for private cancer treatment, with chemotherapy at private hospitals increasing by almost a fifth in 12 months, and currently the second most commonly paid for healthcare treatment.

Behind these numbers, our members are doing significant work to support cancer patients – the London Clinic, for example, has a long history of providing cutting edge, world class cancer treatment and was an early investor in radiology and radiotherapies in the 1950s, and their stem cell transplant unit, opened in 1985, remains one of the largest in Europe. And in just the last year, they partnered with Oxford Biodynamics to offer potentially life-changing blood tests for prostate cancer detection and immunotherapy response prediction; became the UK’s first private hospital to offer patients a new non-invasive treatment option for non-melanoma skin cancers, Rhenium-SCT®, and have now treated their 100th Lutetium177 PSMA patient, for advanced prostate cancer.

Likewise, HCA UK are the only private healthcare provider in the UK to operate a dedicated clinical trials facility, the Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI which specialises in the development of new therapies and precision medication for cancer patients, as well as new anti-cancer drugs.

On top of this, our members are also supporting the NHS in their efforts to rapidly increase the numbers of cancers diagnosed at an early stage which could potentially save thousands of lives every year.

EMS Healthcare Solutions, for example, work with Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance’s on their #ThisVanCan initiative which uses two dedicated mobile units to deliver prostate cancer testing & bowel cancer education in at-risk communities, helping to tackle inequalities in early-stage diagnoses.

Likewise Acacium Group’s diagnostic screening services are helping support the early detection and treatment of potential cancers, and in the last year ensured 526 early detections from their Lung Health Check screening service, 360 early detections from their Endoscopy service, 200 early detections from their breast cancer service, increasing the chance of survival for so many people.

InHealth, the UK’s largest specialist provider of diagnostic and healthcare solutions also deliver a number of cancer screening programmes on behalf of the NHS in locations up and down the country, including their Lung Cancer Screening Programme and Breast Screening Programme (breast cancer being the most common type of cancer in the UK).

Of course once patients have been diagnosed, it’s vital that their path to treatment is as swift as possible, with many of our members working with NHS Trusts up and down the country to ensure that services are as efficient as possible. SAH Diagnostics for example have introduced an end-to-end 28-Day pathway service across NHS Trusts, enabling prostate cancer patients to go from referral to treatment in less than 22 days – significantly below the 64 day national average.

The new World Cancer Day theme for 2025-27 is “united by unique”, campaigning for people to be “placed at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the conversation”. Indeed, it’s important to note that cancer does not just effect someone’s physical health, but equally their mental health as well. Schoen Clinic, one of our members, is working to address this – providing dedicated specialist mental health support for cancer patients who often face unique psychological challenges. Their specialist services deliver a holistic approach which focuses on enhancing quality of life post-cancer treatment, helping to prevent any mental health barriers that might cause patients to decline or discontinue cancer treatment, as well as tackling long-standing mental health issues.

Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond – what does the future hold for cancer care? While there’s not going to be any one cure for cancer, there continues to be huge innovations around the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, and I’m proud that independent providers are playing a key role in this journey.

Acacium Group have been partnering with the “Our Future Health” programme, a world-leading research initiative to develop new ways to prevent, detect and treat diseases such as cancer and heart disease where to date they have managed 687,437 participants through the programme.

Equally, using their mobile clinical trials units, EMS Healthcare have been able to recruit at speed and scale from some of the hardest to reach postcodes in the country for the NHS-Galleri project – which is trialling the Galleri™ blood test which can be used to detect more than 50 types of cancer – including those that are hard to detect, such as pancreatic, head and neck, ovarian and oesophageal cancers.

With so many millions of people affected by the disease every year, it’s absolutely essential that all parts of the health system work together to ensure that patients can access the best possible diagnosis, treatment and innovations in cancer care, and our members are committed to playing their role in this vital endeavour.

Indeed, the public should be reassured that independent providers deliver overwhelmingly safe, high quality care – 94% are rated “good” or “outstanding” by the CQC (well above the national average) – and will continue to support patients right across their cancer journey, and help to eliminate this most devastating of diseases.