UHNM joins national lung health screening programme

UHNM has been invited to join a national lung health screening programme following the success of its own local screening pilot ‘MOT for your lungs’. The initiative was launched in April last year and aimed to identify signs of lung disease at an early stage so that patients could receive treatment as soon as possible.  A total of 1369 patients have already been screened throughout the 12-month pilot project.

It is estimated that around 30,000 patients could potentially benefit from the screening in Stoke on Trent.

Dr Imran Hussain, Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, said: “Studies have found that there is an approximately 75% chance of being able to operate successfully if lung cancer is detected early, in comparison to about 25% if it is diagnosed at a later stage. One of the difficulties with lung cancer is that patients tend to present when it’s too late, so the main point of introducing the screening programme is to save lives, as well as improve quality of life. We want to really help the people of Stoke by being proactive and reaching out to them.  And it’s important to note that the programme isn’t just about cancer, we’ll also be looking at different lung conditions and offering advice on lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation. And we will look at the wider thoracic system and the person as a whole, which means checking the health of a patient’s heart, as well as their lungs.”

Dr Imran Hussain, Consultant in Respiratory Medicine

The screening is open to patients who have previously smoked or are current smokers, between the ages of 55-74.

Mr Andrew Woods, 56, of Stoke on Trent, was eligible for the screening.

Mr Woods said: “I think the programme is excellent, my appointment was very helpful and informative and really put my mind at rest that nothing was wrong. I think it’s very important to attend for screening if it’s offered to you because you just never know what could be going on inside your body. Men especially tend to be hesitant to go to the doctors, so it encourages you to be a bit more proactive. Thankfully I didn’t need any treatment, although I did have a further assessment with regards to sleep apnoea. There were no issues, so now I can carry on with peace of mind.”