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How to Save a Life
How to Save a Life
A couple of months ago, latest figures
from the National Lung Cancer Audit
were released. It said that the number
of lung cancer patients surviving for
more than a year has increased by 7%.
It was big news.
Obviously we’re pleased to see an
increase in patient survival but the
fact that this is seen as big news
saddened us too.We don’t want it to
be an achievement for lung cancer
patients to survive for a year.We want
lung cancer patients to be living for
five, ten years plus.We want people
who are diagnosed with this awful
disease to still be here to see their
children get married, to watch their
grandchildren grow up, to grow old
with their partners.And so we’re
doing something about it…
In January, we started to fund a Lung Health MOT
Check in Bulwell, Nottingham.The aim of the project
is to identify potential lung cancer patients before any
symptoms appear. Patients in five Bulwell practices aged
between 60 and 75 with a history of smoking were
invited by their GP to attend a lung health check
appointment.
Patients were assessed during the health check and
those identified as high risk patients were offered a low
dose CT (LDCT) scan.The scan then identified if the
patient has any nodules on their lungs. If they did, they
were referred to the Nottingham University Hospital’s
(NUH) Lung Cancer Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) for
regular monitoring and follow up.
The CT scans took place in February and March, and
we’ll update you on the results on our website and in
the next edition of Inspire.We’re now looking at ways to
fund the next stage of the project and extend it to
further boroughs and regions.
Spring/Summer 5