PAST and current smokers in Leigh are being urged to get a free lung health check.

People aged between 55-74 years old are being invited to have a potentially “life-saving" NHS lung health check.

A mobile health clinic has been stationed at Tesco in Hindley since mid-November where more than 3,102 people have attended for a check. On Monday (January 22) the service moved to Tesco Extra in Leigh.

A scanner and clinic are housed in a mobile unit at the store’s car park at The Loom, Derby Street and operates six days a week (Monday to Saturday) from 8am to 8pm to ensure that appointments are accessible to everyone who’s invited.

Dr Gen Wong, Clinical Director for the Leigh Primary Care Network and a Leigh GP, said: “The survival rate for lung cancer significantly increases if it’s caught in the early stages and through our approach to these targeted lung health checks will be contacting residents most at risk.

“I’d encourage all patients who are contacted by their doctors’ surgery and offered a lung health check to take up the opportunity.”

GP letters will be sent out to smokers and former smokers aged 55-74 years in the Leigh primary care network.

Patients who are invited for a lung health check will firstly talk to specialist nurse where they will answer some health and lifestyle questions which will determine whether they are ‘high’ or ‘low’ risk. If deemed high risk, they will be offered a low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan of their lungs for further investigation on the same day and be enrolled into the programme.

Most visitors to the lung health checks will get reassurance that everything is ok or be referred to get help to stop smoking.

So far 450 patients have been diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of the lung health checks in Greater Manchester, however, almost 80% of these patients were diagnosed at stage one or two meaning they were more likely to be eligible for curative treatment.

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.

Professor Richard Booton, Clinical Lead for Lung Cancer at Wythenshawe Hospital part of MFT and Programme Director for the Greater Manchester Targeted Lung Health Check programme, said: “The targeted Lung Health Check programme is revolutionary for finding cancers earlier.

“By bringing the scanner directly into the community – like we are doing in Leigh - the scheme can directly contact those at most risk and intervene when the cancer is at its most treatable.”

Patients will be contacted by letter by their GP. For more information on the Targeted Lung Health Check programme please visit: www.mft.nnhs.uk/lunghealthcheck.