Key issues
Adapting a new National Screening Programme for Local Implementation
All National Screening Programmes are overseen by the National Screening Committee and commissioned through NHSE to ensure a universal offer to those eligible. In December 2020 North Tyneside began a pilot intervention of lung cancer case finding, focusing on targeting high risk individuals. Experience and learning from this pilot intervention as well as other cancer screening initiatives will help guide the roll out of the Lung Health Check Programme locally, with first scans expected in Spring of 2024.
Prioritising equality in screening uptake
Given the novelty of this screening programme, no data is currently available to describe patterns and discrepancies in screening uptake. However, based on our experience from other screening programmes such as breast and bowel screening, it is likely that inequalities in uptake will follow similar patterns. Experience from the pilot lung cancer case finding programme in Northumberland local authority highlighted that uptake was lowest in younger people, men and those living in the most deprived areas. This is in keeping with the UKHSA inequalities in screening report which highlights that individuals from socioeconomically deprived areas, people belonging to ethnic minorities and people with learning disabilities are less likely to take part in screening. Additionally, evidence from colon cancer screening nationally suggests that men are less likely than women to take up screening offers.