health

NHS sends urgent message to all people who have ever smoked

Published 11:24 19 Apr 2022 BST

Home health

Get our Pub Quizzes and latest news straight to you by clicking here »

You could save your own life simply by visiting a mobile truck

Smokers and ex-smokers are being urged to get a ‘lung MOT’ after hundreds were diagnosed with lung cancer upon visiting an NHS cancer check-up truck. According to The Independent, NHS staff diagnosed 600 people with the disease after visiting the trucks, which travel around community sites across the UK. Thousands of people were also diagnosed with respiratory and cardiovascular disease - enabling them to access the treatment they need earlier and prevent the need for hospitalisation. This community initiative is part of the biggest programme to improve early lung cancer diagnosis in health service history. It has seen more than three quarters of cancer caught at either stage one or stage two, compared to less than a third of cancers caught at either of these stages in 2018. What's more, people diagnosed with lung cancer at this earliest stage are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late. You’ll spot the mobile trucks temporarily set up in places like supermarkets, car parks and shopping centres. NHS staff working in them scan those who are most at risk from lung cancer, including current and ex-smokers, before inviting them for a 'lung MOT' and an on-the-spot chest scan for those at the highest risk. https://twitter.com/truckerworld/status/1516205709767098371 Up to 25,000 invitations each month have already been issued via the 23 existing truck sites and 20 more lung truck sites are due to go live soon, meaning up to 750,000 more places will be available for people to visit and get checked out. Overall, as many as 1.5 million people should have been invited for a lung health check across the country by 2024/25. Professor Peter Johnson, NHS clinical director for cancer said: “We know that some people had concerns seeking help during the pandemic but if you do have a worrying symptom or have been coughing for three weeks or more, please do contact your GP and get checked out”. Smoking causes more than seven in 10 lung cancer cases in the UK. So, current and ex-smokers aged between 55 and 74 will be invited to speak to a healthcare professional and, if they have a higher chance of developing lung cancer, they’ll be offered a scan of their lungs. Anyone with symptoms of lung cancer shouldn’t wait for an invite and visit their GP straight away, the NHS said. https://twitter.com/NHSEngland/status/1516314415523639297 Christine and Danny, a couple who were invited to the check-up truck, got a horrible shock when Danny was sent for more tests and diagnosed with lung cancer. His wife Christine said: “He had no symptoms other than a cough, which we naturally put down to smoking, and we were shocked to find out the growth was really large. We were so lucky, the lung health check caught it just in time and the amazing cancer team at Castle Hill Hospital were able to operate and remove the cancer without need for chemo or radiotherapy. “Danny is now completely cancer free, but if it wasn’t for the lung health check, he simply wouldn’t be here today. We are so grateful to the amazing team who saved my husband’s life and would urge anyone who is invited to take up the offer”. Related links:

Explore more on these topics:

Cancer

Lung

NHS

Smoking