Independent co-chair Anita Charlesworth will lead the board alongside Mark Cubbon, from NHS England and Department of Health and Social Care, Dr Rob Metcalf, clinical lead for rare cancers, Dr Dianne Addei, lead for inequalities, and Ashley Ball-Gamble, lead for children and young people's cancers. 

Anita Charlesworth, independent co-chair of the National Cancer Board, said: ‘Half of us will be diagnosed with cancer during our lives, so this matters profoundly to patients and families right across the country.

‘The National Cancer Plan is rightly ambitious, and this board will maintain a relentless focus on earlier diagnosis and making sure innovation reaches every patient, no matter who they are or where they live.

‘I look forward to working with my fellow members to ensure the National Cancer Board is a force for progress.'

The board will meet every quarter and will publish an annual assessment of progress, with a more detailed review after three years to identify where the plan needs to be strengthened or refreshed.

The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, set out the Government's ambition for three in four people diagnosed with cancer to be cancer-free or living well five years after diagnosis by 2035.