Today, NHS England is re-launching the ‘Help Us, Help You’ lung cancer campaign to encourage people with a cough lasting three weeks or more to contact their GP practice.
Many people don’t realise that a cough for three weeks or more could be a sign of lung cancer, and so it is vital that patients act on a persistent cough and don’t wait to see if it resolves on its own.
While a cough for three weeks or more is probably nothing serious, it can be a sign of something that needs treatment. If it is cancer, finding it early means it is more treatable and can save lives.
Your NHS is here and wants to see you; Help Us, Help You.
Visit the nhs.uk/cancersymptoms for more information.
What are we doing to help find lung cancer early?
Across Wessex, we have been working hard to support the early detection of lung cancer via the national Targeted Lung Health Check programme. Targeted Lung Health Checks in Southampton went live in 2020, with the aim being to detect lung cancer at an early stage as we know this is a key issue for the City. The programme was paused for four months during the height of the pandemic and the patient pathway changed from a face to face consultation to a virtual one. The programme has successfully been completing CT scans in two local Southampton areas; St. Marys and Weston.
Some key facts from the programme to date:
· 22,704 patients have been invited for a lung health check
· 6817 patients have accepted this invite
To date, 109 lung cancers have been identified, of these 74% have been identified at stage 1, which is a tremendous achievement for the programme. Not only have lung cancers been found at an early stage, but there has been positive feedback from participants.
The TLHC programme has recently launched in Portsmouth and will also be offered to patients in Dorset, later in 2022.
