Tabled Date | Amendment Text |
| Leave out all after ‘recognises’ and insert:
‘that cancer services were facing serious challenges before Covid-19; notes the serious and negative impact of the pandemic on cancer diagnosis, treatment and surgery across Northern Ireland; further notes that despite the best efforts of our Health and Social Care Trusts to protect and maintain cancer services, some tests, treatments and clinical trials were disrupted or cancelled, with a lower than expected number of patients accessing help for possible cancer symptoms; highlights in this context the need to place the restoration of patient-centred and high-quality cancer services at the heart of the recovery from Covid-19; endorses the statement by 47 cancer charities, under One Cancer Voice, which seeks to plot a course out of the pandemic towards world-leading cancer services; welcomes the commitment from the Minister of Health to publish a detailed Cancer Recovery Plan to not only address the immediate issues in cancer services but also with the aim of getting Northern Ireland to a place where services are stronger than before; stresses the need for all Ministers to identify supporting cancer services as a key Executive priority and to therefore fully commit to investing the necessary recurrent resources to clear the cancer backlog as quickly as possible, to ensure the delivery of cancer services is resilient to the projected increase in the cases of cancer, to drive faster and earlier diagnosis, and encourage people with signs and symptoms of cancer to seek help; and calls on the Minister of Health to publish urgently an ambitious roadmap for restoring and enhancing local cancer services and to seek Executive support to ensure its hugely important proposals are fully funded now and into the future.’
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