Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in Yorkshire, with deaths double those of breast and prostate cancer. There are often no signs or symptoms of lung cancer at an early stage which means that many people sadly have advanced incurable disease at the time of diagnosis.
Lung cancer screening with low dose CT scans aims to find lung cancer early, usually before people have symptoms. When diagnosed early, treatment for lung cancer is much more effective, often achieving a complete cure.
“If you get an invitation for a phone conversation – please don’t ignore it. A simple check could save your life.”
Prof. Mat Callister, Lead Consultant in Respiratory Medicine
Free NHS Lung Cancer Screening checks are now being rolled out across Leeds. Starting in September this year and planned for the next two years, the programme will invite anyone in Leeds aged between 55 and 74 who has previously smoked or is currently smoking to take part – estimated to be around 90,000 people.
Alliance Medical is supporting Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to deliver the programme, providing the mobile imaging units and radiography teams who will carry out low-dose CT scans six days a week. The mobile scanning units will be located within local communities across Leeds to maximise accessibility and convenience, offering a modern, spacious, and comfortable environment, with stairs and lift access.
If you are registered with a Leeds GP and have ever smoked cigarettes, you can expect an invitation letter to be sent out to you over the next couple of years. This will invite you to a telephone appointment, where you will be asked some questions as part of a lung cancer risk assessment. If this shows you to have at high risk of lung cancer, you will then be invited for a lung CT scan at the mobile scanning unit which will be touring different locations across Leeds.
People are asked to wait for their invitation letter, but if you are currently experiencing breathing problems or if you have a cough that’s not going away, please don’t delay speaking to your GP.
“This is an exciting opportunity to improve access to healthcare and help reduce health inequalities across Leeds.”
Suzanne Rogerson, Lead Nurse for the programme
The programme follows the success of the Leeds Lung Health Check trial, which ran between 2018 and 2024, screening 8,800 people and detecting over 400 lung cancers of which 4 out of every 5 were diagnosed at an early stage. Funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and delivered in partnership with Leeds Teaching Hospitals and the University of Leeds, the trial helped pave the way for the national lung screening programme, set to be fully rolled out by the Government by 2030.
Professor Mat Callister, Lead Consultant in Respiratory Medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Honorary Professor at the University of Leeds, said: “Following the earlier success of the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial in Leeds, we are excited about now being able to offer free NHS screening to everyone at risk in the city. By catching cancer early, we will be able to save hundreds of lives in Leeds over the coming years. If you get an invitation for a phone conversation – please don’t ignore it. A simple check could save your life.”
Dawn Baldwin, National Diagnostic Imaging/Lung Operational Delivery Manager at Alliance Medical, said: “We’re proud to be working with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to bring lung cancer screening closer to communities across Leeds. Through our work with NHS partners across the country, we’ve seen the value of delivering screening within local communities, and we’re looking forward to bringing that expertise in mobile imaging and operational delivery to the Leeds programme.”
Suzanne Rogerson, Lead Nurse for the Leeds Lung Cancer Screening Programme, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to improve access to healthcare and help reduce health inequalities across Leeds. By bringing our mobile Lung Health Check unit into local communities, we can make screening more convenient, so it is easier for people to take part. Ultimately, this programme has the potential to save lives and improve the health of our communities.”
Stuart Griffiths, Director of Research, Policy and Impact at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “Lung cancer causes around 3,000 deaths in Yorkshire each year, more than any other type of cancer. Too often, it’s found after symptoms have appeared, when treatment is less likely to be successful. This is why finding lung cancer earlier is so important, and the launch of the Leeds Lung Cancer Screening Programme is a major step forward.
“It builds on the success of the Leeds Lung Health Check trial, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, which showed that screening can identify lung cancer early, giving people a better chance of successful treatment and improved survival.”
Jason Pawluk, Programme Director of West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance, said: “We continue to prioritise the roll out of the lung cancer screening programme in our region and are grateful for the support of all local partners in making the programme work and to ensure it is a success. It will be completed by the end of the decade, whilst the development plans for the transition to a national screening programme are confirmed. Lung Cancer Screening is funded through NHS England as part of efforts to improve early diagnosis of cancer and reduce inequalities in cancer outcomes.”
Find out more about Lung Cancer Screening