Lung cancer screening rolled out to detect cancer sooner

Each year the programme - which will cost £270 million annually once fully implemented - is expected to detect cancer in as many as 9,000 people, deliver almost one million scans and provide treatment earlier.

The rollout follows a successful opening phase where approximately 70 per cent of the screening took place in mobile units parked in convenient places - such as supermarket car parks - to ensure easy access and focused on more deprived areas where people are four times more likely to smoke.

The programme, backed by a recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee - will use patient’s GP records for those aged 55 to 74 to identify current or former smokers. Patients will have their risk of cancer assessed based on their smoking history and other factors, and those considered high risk will be invited for specialist scans every two years.