Targeted Lung Health Checks complete in Aldershot and move to Farnborough
Eligible Aldershot residents have recently been taking up their offer to attend a free NHS Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) and now the offer is being extended to eligible Farnborough residents.
NHS Targeted Lung Health Checks can detect cancer and other lung conditions at an earlier stage and often before symptoms occur. Lung cancer often goes undetected during its early stages, due to there being no signs or symptoms. Less than 20% of people diagnosed with lung cancer survive for 5 years or more but TLHCs help detect cancer at an earlier stage, when curative treatment is more possible. To date locally, 73% of lung cancers found by the TLHC programme have been at stage 1 or stage 2.
People registered with a GP surgery in Farnborough, between the age of 55-74 years, who are smokers or former smokers are invited to take part usually via a letter in a bright yellow envelope.
If you feel you might be eligible but have not declared your smoking status on your GP health record, now is the time to get in touch with your surgery and make sure your notes are up to date.
The TLHC process is usually two stage, an initial phone assessment with a specially trained health care professional which determines if the person is higher risk and if they are the second stage is the offer of a free low dose CT scan of their lungs for further investigation (a CT scan is a series of X-rays taken from different angles).
As smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, patients who are invited for a lung health check and who do smoke, will also be offered advice and support to help them quit.
The scanner is housed in a mobile unit, and located in an accessible central Farnborough location at Southwood Clinic - Near Morrisons, Links Way, Farnborough, GU14 ONA. On board the scanner unit is a medical nurse, a healthcare assistant and a radiographer.
Dr Jonathan Macintyre, Cancer lead clinician at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Director for the Frimley TLHC programme, says:
“We’re delighted to offer patients Targeted Lung Health Checks in Farnborough and would urge anyone receiving a letter or text message to take up the offer before the programme moves to another area.
"These checks have already detected lung cancer in patients in Slough and Aldershot, all of whom have gone ahead to receive treatment from the specialist team at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. Almost 800 further patients have been identified by health care professionals as individuals who would benefit from supportive conversations around prevention and management of lung conditions detected through the scan.”
Local resident Pete took up his offer and described the shock at being informed his scan had detected small shadows on his lung indicating an issue as he had no symptoms at all. The team at Frimley Health carried out further tests to determine the extent of the issue and ultimately supported Pete through lobectomy lung surgery, removing a piece of his lung.
After a quick stay in hospital Pete is now home again and continuing to support his wife who lives with vascular dementia. He urged other local people to take up the offer of this preventative screening and said: "Go and get yourself done! If you've got it, like I had, catch it early. Have an op, like I did, and you'll be as right as rain."
A Targeted Lung Health Check with a CT scan can detect lung cancer in people who don’t have any signs or symptoms of the disease. However, if you do have symptoms such as a persistent cough then you should make an appointment with your GP as soon as possible. Don’t wait to be invited for a lung health check.
Dr Cat Hodges, Surrey and Sussex cancer alliance primary care lead says: “The most common symptom of lung cancer is a persistent cough. So if you or a loved one have had that cough for three weeks or more contact your GP practice – your doctor will want to see you. It may be nothing serious, but if it is cancer, finding it early makes it more treatable.”
Dr Hodges adds: “As well as a cough, other signs of lung cancer include bringing up any blood when you cough, any worsening of breathlessness if you already have a lung condition, or any unexplained weight loss. If you have any of these symptoms, contact your GP practice as soon as possible.”
For more information, please visit www.frimleylunghealthcheck.nhs.uk