Source: Department of Health and Social Care published on this website ednesday 4 February 2026 by Jill Powell
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.
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.
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.
