Lung Cancer Screening
Your lungs work hard for you throughout your life. As you get older, it’s worth getting them checked out
The SWAG Cancer Alliance Lung Cancer Screening (LCS) Programme offers eligible individuals the opportunity to check their lung health and detect potential issues early—when treatment is more likely to be successful.
Why Lung Cancer Screening Matters
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the UK, often because it’s diagnosed at a later stage. In its early stages, lung cancer may not cause noticeable symptoms. Screening helps detect lung cancer sooner, sometimes before symptoms appear, making it more treatable and improving outcomes.
What Is a Lung Health Check?
A lung health check assesses how well your lungs are working and provides advice and support to help you keep them healthy. Most people will not have any problems identified. However, in a small number of cases, the check may pick up early signs of lung or breathing issues, allowing for earlier and more effective treatment.
Lung health checks are currently being offered to people aged 55 to 74 who are current or former smokers.
If you're eligible, you’ll receive a letter inviting you to a telephone lung health check. Depending on the outcome of this call, you may be invited to a face-to-face appointment and a low-dose CT scan to take a closer look at your lungs.
We aim to offer Lung Health Checks to everyone who meets the criteria across Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon, and Gloucestershire over the next few years. If you haven’t received an invitation yet, please be assured that you may be contacted soon. Our aim is to reach 100% of our SWAG population by 2029/30.
What happens during an initial Lung Screening Appointment?
You will receive a letter inviting you to a telephone lung screening appointment. During the telephone appointment you will be asked questions about your general health, family history and personal medical history. If you are a current smoker, you will be offered advice to stop smoking and referral to get support from a trained professional.
There are two possible results from your lung health check:
- You may be invited to a face-to-face appointment with a nurse at a convenient location. You may be offered a CT scan as part of the face to face appointment. This appointment will be made during the assessment.
- You may not need any further support from our team, and you will be discharged from the service. We will write to your GP to tell them this.
If you are invited to a face-to-face appointment, this will take place at a mobile unit parked up within a convenient community location.
The nurse will take your height and weight, check your blood pressure and may test your breathing. For most people, the face-to-face appointment will finish with a low-dose CT scan.
The CT scanner will take a detailed picture of your lungs, to check for early signs of lung cancer and other lung conditions. In the unlikely case that we find something requiring immediate action, you will be contacted via telephone within two weeks of your scan.
If we need to take a second look, you will receive an outcome letter within four weeks explaining what your initial CT scan showed and inviting you to a further scan 3 or 12 months later.
If you nothing significant is found, you will be told via letter within four weeks of your scan. You will be asked to return for a further scan 24 months later to confirm all is well. You will receive a separate invitation to this closer to the date of the scan.
Please wait four weeks to hear from our team. If you haven’t heard after this time, please contact our bookings team on 0117 233 8127 or email: inl.swag.lcs@nhs.net
Signs and symptoms of poor lung health
If you have not been invited for a Lung Health Check, you can still look out for your lung health. If you notice any of the following symptoms, please don’t wait for a Lung Health Check invite, contact your GP as soon as possible:
- Unexplained persistent cough
- Unexplained persistent breathlessness
- Fatigue lasting four or more weeks
- Persistent or recurrent chest infection
- Unexplained weight loss
- Appetite loss]
The single best thing you can do to prevent lung cancer is to stop smoking.
If you do smoke and would like to stop, there is free, local and expert support available. You are three times more likely to quit smoking with help from a Stop Smoking Service.
For support with this, text QUIT to 60777 or contact your local stop smoking service.
Get in Touch
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact our team:
📞 0117 233 8127
📧 inl.swag.lcs@nhs.net
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