Lifesaving lung health checks now being offered in Fylde and Wyre

Smokers and former smokers in Fylde and Wyre are now being offered a potentially-lifesaving health check.

Targeted lung health checks are being made available in the area after successful pilot programmes elsewhere in Lancashire and the rest of England.

Invitations will be sent over the course of the next 12 months, so eligible people are advised not to worry if they don’t receive one immediately.

The 15-minute telephone assessment is being offered to those aged 55 to 74 who are known by their GP as having ever smoked. During the call, a health professional will assess the risk of developing lung cancer over the next five years, and people found at high risk will be offered a CT scan.

Those at high risk who get an ‘all clear’ from their scan will be offered follow-up CT scans every two years.

To date, 85,000 people in Lancashire and South Cumbria have been invited for a lung health check since the programme launched in 2021, identifying almost 250 cases of cancer – 70 per cent of which were at an early stage, where the cancer is more treatable.

Dr Neil Smith, GP clinical lead for cancer in Lancashire and South Cumbria, said: “The majority of people who say yes to an NHS Lung Health Check are given the all-clear.

“It can give people valuable peace and mind and where we do find issues, it can help to diagnose cancer and other lung conditions sooner, often when there are no symptoms.”

Symptoms of lung cancer may include:

• A persistent cough or change in your normal cough
• Coughing up blood
• Being short of breath
• Unexplained tiredness or weight loss
• An ache or pain when breathing or coughing
• Appetite loss

If you are worried about one of the above symptoms, please do not wait until you are invited for a lung health check. Contact your GP as soon as possible.

Dr John Howells, clinical director for lung health checks in Lancashire and South Cumbria, has urged people not to delay or put off their health check, and to accept their invitation when it arrives. He said: “There are often no signs or symptoms of lung cancer at an early stage, and sadly it is often diagnosed too late to be cured.

"As a direct result of this vital lung health check service, we are now seeing more people than ever before successfully treated for lung cancer, which was diagnosed early before any symptoms developed.”

You can find out more about lung health and discuss the health checks with a medical professional at the free Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation awareness event at the Affinity Centre in Fleetwood on Friday 20 September, from 10am to 4pm.

Further information can also be found at https://roycastle.org/lung-health-checks/