NHS urges smokers and ex-smokers to get a lung check-up in one of its mobile testing trucks

The NHS has appealed for all smokers and former smokers to undergo lung health checks in its nation-wide fleet of testing trucks.

The mobile trucks are being sent out across the country to convenient community sites across the UK like supermarkets and sports centres to carry out the potentially life-saving ‘lung MOTs’ for those at the highest risk of getting lung cancer.

Current and former smokers aged between fifty-five and seventy-four will be able to speak to a healthcare professional where, if they are found to have a higher chance of developing lung cancer, they will under-go an on-the-spot chest scan.

The twenty-three existing truck sites – which have so far been issuing up to 25,000 invitations each month – will be joined by twenty new sites in the coming months, meaning an estimated 750,000 at-risk people can get assessed each month.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

This increased capacity aims to deliver around 17 million diagnostic tests over a three-year period.

The community initiative, which comes as part of the NHS’s Targeted Lung Health Check Programme, has so far seen more than 77% of cancers be caught at either stage one or two, giving patients a much better chance of beating the disease.

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The teams have also identified thousands of people with other undiagnosed conditions including respiratory and cardiovascular disease, enabling them to access the treatment they need earlier.

The NHS’s cancer director Dame Cally Palmer said on the roll out of new testing sites: “These lung checks can save lives.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

“By going out into communities we find more people who may not have otherwise realised they have lung cancer, with hundreds already diagnosed and hundreds of thousands due to be invited.

“The trucks are conveniently located to make them easy to access and it is vital that as soon as you are invited, you take up the offer and come forward for these potentially life-saving checks.”

Professor Peter Johnson, the NHS clinical director for cancer, added: “Lives are saved when cancers are caught early and when more people are referred for tests, which is why the NHS has put so much effort into early diagnosis in recent years.

“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.”

For more information, visit the NHS website.