Leading medical royal colleges representing senior cancer doctors have called for urgent action to expand and integrate acute and supportive oncology services across the NHS to meet the evolving needs of people living with cancer. 

In two statements published today, 14 July 2025, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), the UK Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (UKASCC) and the Association for Palliative Medicine (APM) warn that despite remarkable advances in cancer treatment and rising survival rates, services are struggling to keep pace with demand.  

More people are living longer with cancer, often with complex symptoms, multimorbidity and psychosocial needs – but too often they are caught between fragmented services, with limited access to the holistic care they require. 

Supportive oncology is a multidisciplinary approach that manages the physical, psychological, and practical impacts of cancer and its treatment. It can include physiotherapy, nutrition, and mental health support, alongside medical care. It is proven to benefit patients and the wider health system by improving quality of life, reducing emergency admissions, and can increase survival by improving adherence to treatment. Yet access remains a postcode lottery, with workforce shortages and a lack of national infrastructure holding back wider rollout. 

Acute oncology services have improved urgent cancer care by bringing together medical expertise in oncology, acute medicine, and palliative care. But variation in service models, mounting pressures in emergency care, and the rising use of treatments such as immunotherapy – which bring challenges such as toxicities that require timely, specialist care – mean there is an urgent need to standardise and strengthen these services. 

Both position statements outline clear actions for the NHS and governments across the UK:  

• National leadership and planning: supportive and acute oncology should be embedded within the NHS England National Cancer Plan and other health strategies. 
• Service standards and funding: all cancer centres should be supported to develop high-quality supportive oncology services, backed by dedicated funding and a clear framework for ‘what good looks like’. 
• Workforce development: clinical fellowships in supportive oncology should be expanded, alongside an expansion in training places for oncologists, palliative care doctors, and allied health professionals. 
• Better integration and innovation: innovative models such as Hospital at Home, Same-Day Emergency Care (SDEC), and Enhanced Supportive Care (ESC) should be scaled up and evaluated nationally.