Mobile scheme finds hundreds of lung cancer cases

1 hour ago

Hannah Griffithsin Coventry

News image — Tracey Markham said she was nervous before getting scanned but valued getting checked for free

BBC Tracey Markham stood in front of the CT scanner inside the mobile unit. She has a black beanie-style hat on and wears a black jacket. — Tracey Markham said she was nervous before getting scanned but valued getting checked for free

A lung-cancer screening programme which sees a mobile unit visit communities in Warwickshire has led to hundreds of people getting early treatment for the disease, health officials say.

The trailer, fitted with a CT scanner inside, has been visiting hospitals and other sites in the county since 2021.

Over that time, Dr Dhananjay Desai, from the screening scheme, said they have picked up "in excess of, 400 cancers, primarily at early stages".

"It offers the chance of curative treatment and it offers the chance of patients living longer," he added.

Tracey Markham was scanned last year and was invited to come back for a follow-up scan a year later.

"You're quite nervous because obviously you see the machine in there and you think 'oh no, what's this going to be like'", the 61-year-old said.

"But I've had an MRI scan before and a CT so it becomes the norm really. If it was private, which costs a lot of money, I wouldn't be doing it.

"A few minutes out of my time, it's not costing me anything at all and it's good for my health."

CT scanner ready to use inside a mobile unit in Coventry. The room is lit in purple and has a changing area behind a curtain in the corner. — The scanner is based inside a trailer which was taken to various sites in the county

The programme invites people aged between 55 and 74, with a history of smoking, to take part and up to 50 can be scanned each day at the mobile unit.

Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer with more than 43,000 people diagnosed every year in the UK, according to the NHS.

People are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years if their cancer is detected early, experts say.

Mick Hayde, 67, was invited for the screening and said: "All these MRI scans and the CT scans, [it is] the process of elimination. Great idea, great idea to get it looked at."

Casper Lisle-Pourzyaie, Operations Manager for the lung cancer screening team in Coventry and Warwickshire stands in front of the mobile unit with white and blue markings on it. he has short dark hair and a short dark beard. — Casper Lisle-Pourzyaie, from the screening programme, said they were planning to take the scanner to as many areas as possible

The trailer in Warwickshire has been concentrated towards sites in Coventry and the north of the county since 2021.

From April, it will move to Stratford Hospital with patients in south Warwickshire getting invites from March to take part.

Casper Lisle-Pourzyaie, from the screening team, said it would then be taken throughout the region

"If we think about it regionally for the West Midlands as well, we are quite far ahead of our rollout but it's going to be expanding to all the other regions as well shortly," he said.

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