Lung health scanner ‘shows up’ in Sheffield
A lifesaving screening programme which started in Doncaster in 2021, and has since expanded across Bassetlaw, Rotherham, and Barnsley, has launched in Sheffield.
The Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, and the CEO of NHS South Yorkshire Gavin Boyle, were among the guests celebrating the introduction of free lung health checks to the people of Sheffield.
The mobile lung health scanner, which welcomes people identified at most risk of cancer for tests, visited the Lidl supermarket car park in the Castlebeck area to mark the launch.
Almost 140,000 people have been invited to take part in the Targeted Lung Health Check programme so far, and an incredible 511 cases of cancer have been found to date, with 402 being lung cancer. What’s more impressive, is that 75% were caught at an early stage and 74% of these patients were suitable for curative treatment.
Dr Jason Page, Clinical Director South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw TLHCs, said: “The success of the programme so far in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw has undoubtedly saved lives, and now we are starting the work in Sheffield with the intention of saving even more.”
People in Sheffield aged 55 to 74 who smoke or used to smoke and are registered with a Sheffield GP will receive a letter inviting them for a free NHS Lung Health Check.
The TLHC programme will make its way to different areas across the city to identify any lung problems early, enabling earlier cancer diagnoses, and improving lung cancer survival rates.
Sheffield-based GP Dr Maria Read said: “We are really excited that this service is now in Sheffield. Lung cancer often has very few symptoms until a much later stage, so problems could start before a person notices anything wrong. This simple scanning service will be rolled out in stages across the city.”
Dr Page added how important it was for people to ‘show up’ to get checked when invited. “If you have received an invite, it is due to your increased risk of developing lung cancer or having other lung conditions, and this is an opportunity to get an early diagnosis and have a much better chance of survival.”
The TLHC Programme is the largest initiative to improve early lung cancer diagnosis in health service history, and the results of the pilot have been so successful that it is set to be a national screening programme by 2029.