Government to cover travel costs of children with cancer

Image by Reuben Lopes from Pixabay

Children with cancer will have their travel costs paid for, with a new Government support package worth up to £10 million a year.

For every parent of a child with cancer, each day presents real challenges, not only in confronting the disease itself, but also in managing the considerable demands and costs associated with transporting their child for specialist treatment.

More than a third of these families must travel over an hour to reach hospital. There are 13 expert centres caring for children with cancer across England, with many young patients and their families face long and frequent journeys, sometimes several times a week, over many months or even years.

The financial burden can be significant, with petrol costs, train fares and lost earnings making an already difficult time, even harder. For some families, it could mean money that means heating their home for fewer hours, or going without fresh, nutritious food at dinner time. These are choices no parent should ever be forced to make.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “When a child is diagnosed with cancer, their family’s only focus should be on helping them recover and getting them well, not on whether they can afford the petrol or bus fare to get to their next appointment. This small change will make the world of difference to parents.

“Our plan will leave no family out of pocket while their child goes through cancer. It doesn’t matter what you earn – if your child needs treatment, we will help you get them there. When a child is fighting cancer, their family should never have to fight the system too.”

While wealthier families may absorb these costs, for those worrying about the cost of living, the impact can be overwhelming.

Through the National Cancer Plan, the Government will provide £10 million a year for a new fund open to all children and young people with cancer and their families regardless of income to support them with the cost of travelling to and from cancer care.

It will help people like Emma Wilding, from West Lancashire, whose son Theo was diagnosed with Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in October 2024 when he was only five months old.

Alder Hey Children’s hospital is 45 minutes away from their family home, which meant they had to spend a great deal of time and money on travel in addition to paying for parking at the hospital.

She said: “When Theo was going through treatment, we had no choice but to pay out for fuel and parking at the hospital, as we had to be by his side. However, at a time when our household income had gone down, this was a struggle financially. 

“Sat on the ward, I met so many other families also struggling with these costs, many travelling from much further away from hospital as well. I know this news is going to mean so much to young people and families of children with cancer, so they won’t have to worry so much about how they’ll afford to get to hospital.”

This commitment sits alongside decisive action to transform cancer care for children and young people; including improving hospital food, ensuring medical psychosocial care during treatment, expanding genomic testing, and detecting cancers earlier when treatment is most effective.

Professor Peter Johnson, National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England, said: “Children with cancer need the best specialist treatment and this can sometimes mean repeated long-distance travel, adding to the pressures families face during some of the most difficult times of their lives.

“This new fund will be available regardless of income so families avoid having to choose between being at their child’s bedside and covering the cost of travelling there.

“Together with earlier diagnosis, emotional support, genomic testing and better access to trials, this will help deliver the new National Cancer Plan’s goal of improving care for children and young people with cancer.”

The upcoming national NHS food standards review will ensure young cancer patients have access to high-quality, child-friendly food, including outside mealtimes.

The Government will also improve the experience of those children who have to stay in hospital. The NHS and Starlight’s Play Well toolkit will help services deliver high-quality play provision for children, while youth support coordinators will help teenagers and young adults with education, emotional support and fertility concerns.

Furthermore, mental health support will be standardised for all young cancer patients during diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow-up, recognising the experience of cancer often surfaces years after treatment ends.

Taken together, these measures will ensure that when a child faces cancer, their family can focus on what matters most, being by their side and helping them get well.

This follows a series of reforms announced as part of the National Cancer Plan, including measures to improve access to specialists in rural and coastal communities, a crackdown on illegal underage sunbed use, improved bowel cancer screening to catch thousands more cases earlier and a new partnership to support England’s 830,000 working-age cancer patients to remain in employment during and after treatment.

The plan, set to be published on 4th February, will set out further steps the government is taking to catch cancer earlier, treat it faster, and prevent it in the first place.

Since coming to office, the government has already delivered 5 million extra NHS appointments, and 213,000 more patients have received a cancer diagnosis within the 28 day target.

Rachel Kirby-Rider, Chief Executive Officer of Young Lives vs Cancer, said: “Young Lives vs Cancer has been campaigning for almost a decade for a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund. Today’s announcement of dedicated travel costs support is a huge step forward in transforming the lives of children and young people with cancer and their families. Up until now, young people and families have been going into debt and even missing treatment because of the extra £250 every month just to travel to hospital. We’re ready to work with the government to make this a success.

“We’re pleased to see the National Cancer Plan will provide dedicated support that children and young people need, achieved by true sector collaboration. Young Lives vs Cancer has worked with partners over many years and through the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to ensure the experiences of children and young people with cancer are considered within the National Cancer Plan.”

Jules Worrall, Interim Chief Executive of Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “Cancer kills more young people in the UK than any other disease. By including a specific focus on young people with cancer, the National Cancer Plan for England has the potential to reduce the impact of this devastating disease.

“We are pleased the Plan will look to improve access to clinical trials - a major issue for young people with cancer. Removing barriers that stop them accessing innovative new treatments could be a potential lifeline for some.

“Our hope is that these new commitments will also lead to faster diagnosis for young people with cancer which we know is so important to improving health outcomes, as well as catalyse greater access to vital psychosocial support. 

“We look forward to working with the Government to ensure the Plan achieves real and lasting change for young people with cancer.” 

Mr Ashley Ball-Gamble, Chief Executive of The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association, said: “Along with our partners at Young Lives vs Cancer, we’ve been calling for a Children & Young People’s Cancer Plan for several years, so we’re pleased to see that a focus on children and young people has been a priority in developing the National Cancer Plan.

“The plan’s commitment to both speeding up diagnosis – building on the research and recommendations of CCLG’s own Child Cancer Smart awareness campaign – and the prioritising of funding for children and young people’s cancer research, represent a positive step forward to improving both outcomes and experiences.

“We’re looking forward to playing our part in setting the plan into action and seeing the life-saving and life-changing impact it will have for children and young people with cancer.”

Gail Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Solving Kids Cancer, said: “We welcome the dedicated attention to children and young people’s cancers in the upcoming National Cancer Plan – a level of focus that has not been seen before and remains rare internationally. A 2025 analysis of cancer control plans across Europe found that only 4 out of 22 countries had a comprehensive approach to childhood cancer. The Government’s commitment to a clear, detailed plan for children and young people offers an opportunity to position England as a global leader in improving care, treatment and research for children with cancer and their families.”

Dr Sharna Shanmugavadivel, Early diagnosis fellow at CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association and vice-chair of the Children and Young People’s Taskforce at DHSC, said: “Today marks a historic moment in policy for England. For the first time in the country’s history, there is a standalone chapter for Children and Young People within a National Cancer plan. 

“The commitments included in the plan are a direct result of the entire paediatric oncology community – clinicians, researchers, charities, children, young people and their families – coming together to highlight crucial gaps that need addressing when a child or young person aged 0-24 is diagnosed with cancer. 

“The result is a set of holistic commitments spanning the entire patient journey from ensuring earliest possible accurate diagnoses within primary and secondary care, to parity of access to clinical trials and genomic testing and prioritising CYP cancer research and data collection.

“We are thrilled that this plan also places the child, young person and their families at the heart of it, committing to better psychosocial support including youth worker support for young people, improving access to high quality food and providing families with financial support through the travel fund. 

“We thank everyone who contributed, and look forward to the next, most important, step which is implementing the commitments to improve the experiences and outcomes for children and young people with cancer.”

Dr Timothy Ritzmann, Clinical Associate Professor in Paediatric NeuroOncology and Cancer Biology, University of Nottingham, and CCLG-funded researcher, said: “With the National Cancer Plan about to launch, it’s vital that children and young people with cancer remain a clear priority. A plan alone is not enough – it must be backed by sustained investment to deliver real change for children and families.

“The James Lind Alliance has set out the research questions that matter most, and funding to address them is essential to close evidence gaps – especially for those with high risk cancers, where new effective therapies are urgently needed to create both hope for families and lasting cures for patients.

“We must also deliver clinical trials more quickly and efficiently so that the UK’s world-leading scientific discoveries reach patients without delay. Alongside this, strengthening early diagnosis remains crucial. We cannot and must not allow children to be left behind – they are our future.”