Robots, Genomics, and AI: Inside the 2035 Cancer Plan
"Cancer survival shouldn’t come down to who won the lottery of life."
That was the message from Health Secretary Wes Streeting today as he unveiled a National Cancer Plan designed to deliver the "fastest rate of improvement this century."
The headline targets are ambitious: to save 320,000 more lives by 2035 and ensure that three in four patients are cancer-free or living well five years after diagnosis. But for those of us watching the sector, the most interesting part of today's announcement isn't the targets—it’s the technology the government is betting on to hit them.
The Tech Roadmap to 2035
The plan signals a decisive shift away from traditional models of care towards a high-tech, decentralized future. The government is betting big on three specific areas to clear the backlog:
Robotics at Scale: The plan outlines a massive expansion in robot-assisted surgery, targeting 500,000 procedures annually by 2035 (up from just 70,000 today). The goal is to reduce complications, speed up recovery, and crucially, free up hospital beds.
Genomics in Your Pocket: In a world-first move, the NHS App will be upgraded to integrate genomic and lifestyle data. By 2035, the App will offer every patient a bespoke risk assessment, moving the system from "detect and treat" to "predict and prevent."
AI Diagnostics: New pilots will launch immediately to use automation and Artificial Intelligence to speed up test assessments, specifically targeting hard-to-reach cancers that are often missed by the human eye until it is too late.
The "Human" Element of High-Tech Care
Wes Streeting—himself a cancer survivor who was treated with robot-assisted surgery at the Royal Free Hospital—emphasized that this tech uptake isn't about replacing care, but enhancing it.
By automating the "process" parts of oncology (diagnostics, risk assessments, surgical precision), the NHS aims to free up clinicians to do what only they can do: provide empathy and support.
The Opportunity for Suppliers
At NHMS, we see this as a clear signal: the NHS is open to innovation, but it needs scalable partners to implement it.
Scaling robotic surgery seven-fold is not just a clinical challenge; it is an operational one. It requires a resilient supply chain of maintenance, consumables, and logistics to ensure these high-tech assets are available 24/7.
The vision is right. Now the supply chain must step up to deliver it.