Sutton
Lung cancer screening (the new name for targeted lung health checks) is available in Sutton for people aged between 55-74 who smoke or used to smoke any tobacco product, including cigarettes, pipes, cigars, roll ups, hookahs or shishas.
Screening can spot problems such as cancer early, often before you notice any symptoms. Finding problems earlier can make treatment simpler and more successful.
There are two main stages to lung cancer screening. The first involves a simple lung health check assessment with a patient care advisor over the telephone. They will ask you a series of questions about your smoking history, lifestyle and current health and wellbeing specially designed to assess your risk of developing lung cancer. This should take around 15 minutes.
Depending on the results, you may then be offered an in-person appointment with a nurse to confirm if a CT scan is suitable for you. If it is, you will then go on to have a low dose CT scan, which produces a detailed image of your lungs, at the same appointment.
There are often no signs or symptoms of lung cancer at an early stage. Screening can help save lives by identifying lung cancer even before there are any symptoms, when treatment can be simpler and more successful. It can also help diagnose other respiratory issues, which again can be treated more successfully at an earlier stage.
If you are invited for lung cancer screening, even if you feel well, it is important to take the offer up.
To be eligible for lung cancer screening, you must be:
- Registered with a participating GP practice in Sutton
- Aged 55-74
- A current or former smoker.
If you are eligible, you should receive a letter and a text message inviting you for lung cancer screening.
You do not need to call or visit your GP. One of our patient care advisors will call you within 14 days to carry out the short telephone assessment.
Please let us know if you have questions or need support for your telephone assessment. We can then put arrangements in place to make sure the appointment is suitable and comfortable for you. You can call the Booking Office on 020 3835 1600.
If you feel you are eligible for lung cancer screening but have not received an invitation, please contact us on 020 3835 1600.
The assessment might find that you are at low risk of lung cancer and you will not need a lung scan. You may be invited back at a later date to reassess your risk.
If your telephone assessment finds that you may be suitable for a lung scan, you will be offered an appointment at a local community venue. This will be arranged at a time that is convenient for you
The lung cancer screening team will provide more details about the time and venue during your telephone assessment and confirm the information in a letter and by text.
At your scan appointment you will meet with a nurse who will confirm if a scan is suitable for you.
To be eligible for our lung cancer screening, you must be:
- Registered with a participating GP practice in Sutton
- Aged 55-74
- A current or former smoker
If you don’t meet these criteria, you will not be invited for NHS lung cancer screening.
If you feel you meet the eligibility criteria and you haven’t received an invitation, there could be several reasons for this:
- Invitations for patients from your practice have not yet been sent out.
- Your practice is not participating in this programme.
- You are not registered with a GP in Sutton, although you may live in this area.
- Your smoking status has not been recorded on your GP record.
Please note: If your GP record doesn’t state your smoking status, you will still receive a letter letting you know the programme is available. If you don’t feel you are eligible, or you do not want to participate, you can ignore this letter and ask your GP practice to update your record.
If you do feel you are eligible and would like to take part, please call 020 3835 1600 to see if this can be arranged.
If you have any questions, would like general information or would like to opt out of the lung cancer screening programme, please email: westlondon.lunghealthcheck@nhs.net