People diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stage are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late.
Screening is currently being rolled out across Torbay and South Devon and is available for people aged 55-74 years old who have ever smoked and are registered with a participating GP practice in the area.
Over the next two years, around 45,000 people will receive a letter offering them an initial telephone triage with a medical professional.
During this phone call, the specially trained health professional will assess the risk of lung cancer and if necessary, people could be invited to a free lung cancer screening as part of a national programme.
Those who have accepted the invitation to the lung screening will visit the dedicated mobile unit that will be initially located at Sainsbury’s car park near Penn Inn roundabout from May 1, which will be operated by InHealth.
If the results of the scan show signs of anything of concern, the patient may be referred for further lung scans and treatment at hospital.
“Any scans that identify urgent findings will result in the patient being invited to a dedicated screening clinic at Torbay Hospital for further investigation. Any non-urgent findings on CT scans will be communicated to the patient and GP directly.”
“Working with InHealth allows for a speedy detection process, allowing the Cancer Services Team at Torbay Hospital to focus on the treating of those who have cancer.
This is why it is so important that anyone invited attends their lung cancer screening, even if they feel well.”
Geoff Searle, Chief Executive from InHealth, said: “We are delighted to be supporting this life-saving screening programme and already run several programmes across the country, so we’re happy to be delivering these services in the Torbay and South Devon area, where we already run a Community Diagnostic Centre.
“Working with our NHS partners, we have already identified around 14,000 people who could be potentially at a higher risk of contracting lung cancer, due partially to their history of smoking.
We will be welcoming them for face-to-face nurse appointments and a CT scan, so that if anything is detected, they can be referred to the Cancer Services Team at Torbay Hospital for further support.”
Michelle Weston from the Peninsula Cancer Alliance, which is coordinating the lung cancer screening scheme across the region, said: “Your lungs work hard every minute of your life.
Lung cancer screening can help to find problems early – often before you notice anything is wrong.
“Due to there being few to no symptoms at an early stage, lung cancer is regularly diagnosed late.
Lung cancer currently causes more deaths than any other cancer in the UK, but if caught early, it’s much more treatable and the survival rate is much higher.
Attending a lung cancer screening appointment could save your life.”
For more information on the programme please visit https://peninsulacanceralliance.nhs.uk/lung-cancer-screening/