Havering: Targeted Lung Health Check Programme
Targeted Lung Health Checks are a free check of the lungs for people aged between 55-74, who have ever smoked, and are by invite only. More information about the service for patients is on the North East London Cancer alliance website
In north east London, we have already launched this in Barking & Dagenham, Tower Hamlets and Newham, with very positive results and a high uptake – one of the highest in the country.
We are now preparing for this to be extended to Havering.
Engagement is taking place with primary care, as well as with the Local Medical Committee (LMC), local Healthwatch, Public Health, local authorities, community and faith groups, and voluntary organisations.
Next steps
The whole lung health check process is being managed by one of our partners, InHealth. They will send out invitation letters and reminders to patients, book appointments, administer the scans and send out follow up letters.
To minimise direct queries to GPs, we will ensure that the letters sent to patients are clear and concise and include InHealth’s contact details for any follow-up questions or concerns.
Additionally, we have a dedicated website, https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/tlhc, that provides further information and resources for patients, which should also help reduce the number of direct queries to GPs.
To enable this process to take place, all GP Practices in Havering are asked to sign a Data Sharing Agreement with InHealth.
Please see the attached letter and action as soon as possible. This has been approved by the NHS London Shared Services Information Governance Board to provide you with reassurance.
Once InHealth receive your signed Data Processing Agreement, a member of their Customer Operations team will be in touch to organise the data export, which is a quick and simple process, as explained in the letter.
What happens after a patient is scanned?
An infographic of the patient pathway is available here.
In cases of abnormal scans, this will be managed by the local TLHC team, who will also send GPs relevant letters for patient results. The TLHC team remain the point of contact until a consultant upgrade appointment takes place.
The TLHC team will send a notification email to the relevant GP practice’s designated “workflow email” address so that the GP is aware of an abnormal result. To facilitate this process, please check that your GP practice’s workflow email address is up to date and accurate. Additionally, kindly update your records to reflect any changes, ensuring that we have the most current contact information on file.
If a problem is found that needs to be dealt with in secondary care, TLHC team will refer directly, contact the patient, and act as point of contact until in appropriate clinic.
We refer all aneurysms >45mm directly to secondary care. Between 40-45mm, GPs are asked to arrange echocardiograms in 2 years’ and we provide the details for the vascular surgery advice and guidance service so they can seek advice directly from the vascular team.
Primary care will be informed if the following are found:
- Coronary artery calcification
- Aortic valve disease
- Bone abnormalities
More information
Webpages for patients: https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/tlhc
Communications materials for practices to promote the programme to patients are available here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/161ZDx5KMaT5mKnvwHxdxJtbStM7D3fcg?usp=share_link
Animated video for patients: https://youtu.be/bqEhBH8Sfq8
This is available in 17 different languages: https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/resources/videos/TLHC-patients
How we can help
We are happy to come to your local GP meetings to provide an update on the programme and to answer any queries.
Contact us
Please email the Targeted Lung Health Check team at nelondonicb.lungcheck@nhs.net, or for any queries regarding the data extraction, please email supportdesk@health-intelligence.com
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