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Mobile lung clinic 'detecting cancer early'

Alexandra Bassingham,West of Englandand
Mark Smith,Gloucestershire
News imageBBC Dr Claudia Wegner, wearing a stripy top and pink cardigan, Dr Henry Steer, wearing a light dark jacket and white shirt and Dr Anna Bibby wearing a light shirt and grey jacket, all standing by a CT scanner. BBC
More than 20 people have had an early diagnosis of cancer in Gloucestershire over the last year

A mobile lung screening unit designed to give patients a better chance by detecting cancer early, has seen about 3,000 people and diagnosed more than 25 cancers in its first year.

The In Health mobile unit, at Forest Hills Golf Course near Coleford, Gloucestershire, offers "lung MOTs" to people aged between 55-74 who are current or former smokers.

Patient John Bannister said: "It was a friendly experience with no worries and was dead easy - I just sat down and it didn't hurt. Just go and do it."

The NHS plans to make mobile units available across the country by 2030, to meet its goal of 75% of cancers being diagnosed by stage one or two.

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More than 40,000 people across the Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire region (SWAG) have been seen and almost 450 lung cancers - which patients were unaware they had, - found, an NHS spokesperson said.

Dr Anne Bibby, clinical director of lung cancer screening for SWAG, said the CT scanner is like a chest x-ray "times 1,000" because the imaging is so in-depth.

"It's not noisy, not claustrophobic and it's over in five minutes," she said.

"Being in Tesco's [in St Oswald's, Gloucester] and the golf course is about making it as accessible as possible.

"You can get on with your shopping, get on with your day - so it is not a big deal."

News imageDr Anna Bibby wearing a light shirt and grey jacket standing next to the unit which has a lung cancer screening sign on the side.
Dr Bibby said a key part of the scheme was to make the units as accessible as possible by having free parking

Dr Henry Steer, lung cancer lead for Gloucestershire and SWAG, said they are looking for nodules in the scans.

"Nodules are a tiny speck or lump on the lung which may be a few millimetres across," he said.

"Nodules in the lung are common - and most don't turn out to be cancer - but all cancers will start out as a nodule."

He went on to say that anything out of the ordinary on the scans is reviewed and anything that needs further investigation is referral to hospital.

"In 75% of cancers detected in screening, we will be able to offer curative treatment, so most screen detected cancers are curable," he added.

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