The Targeted Lung Health Check national screening service is being rolled out across Dorset and is offered to people aged 55 to 74 who are current or former smokers.

If this includes you, you will be contacted by the Lung Health Check Team when the service comes to your area. You will receive a letter and an information booklet about the service in the post, after which you will be contacted by phone and offered either a face to face or telephone lung health check assessment with a specialist nurse.

At your lung health check assessment, your risk of lung cancer is calculated as either high or low. If your risk is low, you will be contacted in 2 years for a further risk assessment conversation.

If your risk is high, a simple CT scan of your lungs can be arranged which can identify signs of several lung conditions (including cancer) at an early stage when treatment is likely to be more successful- saving lives. 

A Lung Cancer Screening assessment is a telephone call with a Registered Nurse. They will ask you questions about your smoking history, lifestyle, family history and the overall health of your lungs, to determine whether you have a higher or lower risk of developing Lung Cancer in the future.

If you are assessed as:

• Low Risk - You will be invited to be re-assessed every 2 years until you age out of the programme at 75.
• High Risk -  If appropriate, you will be offered a low dose CT scan of your lungs at your local hospital. If you proceed to have the CT scan to look for abnormalities, an appointment letter will be sent to you for this. A results letter will be sent to you and your GP. You will then be offered a CT scan every 2 years until you age out at 75 years old.

For more information visit   https://dchft.nhs.uk/services/lung-cancer-screening/

Or scroll down find out more resources including a YouTube video with Dr Jenny Graves, Respiratory Consultant at Dorset County Hospital. 

Downloadable information

• Lung Health Checks Patient information leaflet
• Lung Heath Screening Easy Read leaflet

Other online lung health sources:

• About Dorset Lung Health Checks
• Department of Thoracic Medicine (University Hospitals Dorset)
• Cancer Matters Wessex Lung Health Check information
• Cancer Research UK: Lung Health Checks
• Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation: What are lung health checks?
• LiveWell Dorset Stop Smoking Support
• NHS: NHS stop smoking services

Watch the lung health check video on YouTube here>>

• The Targeted Lung Health Check Programme helps save more lives by identifying lung cancer at an earlier stage when it is much more treatable. 

• When lung cancer is diagnosed early there are more options for treatment and a higher chance of survival - People diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stage are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late.

• Lung Health Checks are offered to people aged 55 to 74 who are current or former smokers.

• Other lung conditions can also be identified through the Lung Health Check Programme in people referred for a CT scan. If this happens, participants will be referred on for the appropriate treatment. 

• Lung cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer in the UK. It is commonly diagnosed too late, due to there often being no symptoms at the earlier stages. Attending a Lung Health Check CT (if needed) can help find issues early often before symptoms occur.