Thousands of smokers and ex-smokers to be offered free lung cancer screenings

Up to 9,000 lung cancer cases could be caught sooner or prevented under a new screening programme set to be rolled out across the UK.

The scheme, which is set to cost £270 million annually once fully established, could provide almost one million scans and earlier treatment.

It will use patients’ GP records for those aged 55 to 74 to identify current or former smokers, with 325,000 estimated to be newly eligible for a first scan each year and 992,000 scans expected per year in total.

Under the programme, patients will have their risk of cancer assessed based on their smoking history and other factors, with those considered ‘high risk’ to be invited for specialist scans every two years.

The first phase of the scheme will reach 40% of people who are eligible by March 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care said, with the aim of 100% coverage by March 2030 following the rollout.

It comes after a successful earlier phase which saw approximately 70% of screenings take place in mobile units parked in convenient sites such as supermarket car parks, helping to ensure easy access. It also focused on more deprived areas where people are four times more likely to smoke.

The first phase of the targeted lung health check scheme by NHS England resulted in more than 2,000 people being detected as having cancer, while 76% were found at an earlier stage compared to 29% in 2019 outside of the programme.

In total, during the initial phase almost 900,000 people were invited for checks, 375,000 risk assessments made and 200,000 scans were carried out.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggests the scheme could provide “a lifeline to thousands of families across the country”.

He said: “And while we focus on cutting waiting lists in the short term, we must also look to tackle some of the long-term challenging facing the NHS, including lung cancer which costs 35,000 lives every year.

“Rolling out screening to high-risk 55 to 74-year-olds will save lives by detecting up to 9,000 lung cancers a year at an early stage.

“The NHS has treated record numbers of cancer patients over the last two years, with cancer being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often and survival rates improving across almost all types of cancer.”

But Labour accused the government of “disarming” the health service. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “Every year since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, more cancer patients have waited longer than is safe to see a specialist.

“We need a war on cancer, but the Conservatives have spent a decade disarming the NHS. The mission of the next Labour government will be to make the NHS fit for the future, so it’s there for cancer patients when they need it.”

Smoking causes 72% of lung cancers and 48,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year, while around 35,000 people die. It has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers, which is largely due to the disease being diagnosed at a late stage when treatment is much less likely to be effective. Treating cancer early improves the chance of survival – 60% of people currently survive stage one cancer for five years or more and 4% at stage four.

Anyone who is assessed as being at high risk of lung cancer will be referred to have a low dose Computed Tomography (LDCT) scan, with a diagnosis and treatment to follow if needed. Those whose scans are negative will then be reinvited for further scans every 24 months, until they pass the upper age limit.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Through our screening programme we are now seeing more diagnoses at stage 1 and stage 2 in the most deprived communities which is both a positive step and a practical example of how we are reducing health inequalities.

“Rolling this out further will prolong lives by catching cancer earlier and reducing the levels of treatment required not just benefiting the patient but others waiting for treatment.”

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard added: “Identifying lung cancer early saves lives, and the expansion of the NHS’s targeted lung health check programme is another landmark step forward in our drive to find and treat more people living with this devastating disease at the earliest stage.

“The NHS lung trucks programme is already delivering life-changing results, with people living in the most deprived areas now more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier stage, giving them a better chance of successful treatment.”