Investment in primary care will be crucial to ambitions to cut cancer deaths in the UK, senior doctors say.

Cancer Research UK yesterday set out its proposals aimed at preventing 20,000 deaths from the disease by 2040. Among its proposals is a call for a dramatic reduction in waiting times for tests and diagnoses.

The Doctors’ Association UK warned that general practice is crucial to achieving this – and that GPs are getting “mixed messages”. Dr Lizzie Toberty, its GP lead, who practises in the north east of England, said continuity of care would be critical to identifying symptoms.

Dr Toberty said: “GPs are constantly getting mixed messages. We’re told we need to reduce referrals and carry more risk in order to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, while at the same time being told we’re not doing enough to ensure early diagnosis. We currently have a shortage of GPs in the UK and urgently need sustained investment into primary care core funding – starting now – in order to increase their numbers and to create the conditions for patients to know and trust their GP. And we need the funding to enable GPs to have quick access to specialists and scans within hospitals.

“We need a whole system approach based on continuity of care with a GP and ease of access to investigations and specialists. The UK is nowhere near where it should be and without the funding and investment the UK will continue to see above average deaths from cancer.”

Professor Ketan Patel, chief scientist of Cancer Research UK, said: “The UK has achieved incredible breakthroughs in cancer, and we have massive potential to transform cancer care through research into new technologies like AI. But we can only improve cancer care if we invest in research and streamline how we set up and run clinical trials. Cancer research is not a nice to have, it is vital. We need to back cancer research and vastly strengthen our ability to quickly translate research into improvements for patients and their families, improve productivity and strengthen the economy.”