Breathe easy: mobile lung health checks for people who have smoked

04 December 2024
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Wirral residents aged 55-74 who have a history of smoking, however small, can access a free lung health screening.

The Targeted Lung Health Checks programme invites individuals who have ever smoked for free lung health checks to help them improve their lung health and diagnose lung conditions early.

Provided by Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH) the service offers a telephone consultation with a specialist nurse which can be followed by a scan if the patient is assessed as being at an increased risk of lung cancer.

The service utilises a mobile scanner, which is used in different locations across Cheshire and Merseyside.

The service contacts eligible people using patient data from GP surgeries directly. It is important that residents advise their GP about their smoking status. This can be updated at any time by contacting their GP surgery.

What happens at a lung health check?

Lung Health Checks will be done on the telephone. A specially-trained NHS Lung Health Check Nurse will ask the patient a number of questions about their health, lifestyle and history, including any personal history of cancer or family history of lung cancer. The answers will be used to assess the risk of developing lung cancer in the future.

If a patient is assessed as being at increased risk of lung cancer, they will be offered a low dose CT scan and invited to the mobile scanner. After the scan, results will be sent to your GP. If you haven’t heard anything after six weeks, contact your GP surgery.

Depending on findings from the lung health check and/or CT scan, patients will be referred for support or follow-up services in hospital or the community.

The scanner will be in Asda Liscard car park until 24 December, with a break for the festive period before starting again on 27 December until 1 February 2025.

For more information about the programme, visit: Targeted Lung Health Checks :: Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance.

If you think you could be eligible for a lung health check, speak with your GP and make sure your smoking status is up to date.

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