Community-based mobile CT units improve patient access to lung cancer screening in Cheshire and Merseyside

Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (LHCH), in collaboration with the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance are improving patient access to lung cancer screening with plans to offer 1,800 lung health checks and 780 CT scans weekly, as part of the Targeted Lung Health Check programme promoting early diagnosis and improved outcomes. Medical charity, Cobalt Health provides ultra-low dose CT, through mobile units, with the SOMATOM go.All and SOMATOM go.Top from Siemens Healthineers installed. The mobile CT units are conveniently located in the community removing barriers for patients who may not be willing or able to access care in a hospital.

Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK with around 48,500 people diagnosed each year¹. LHCH has played an essential role in delivering lung health checks and scans to detect lung cancer earlier at stage I or II, when treatment is significantly more effective. The mobile CT units were operationalised in the Merseyside and Cheshire communities in late 2022 with both solutions ready to deliver screening through 2023 and beyond. To improve access to care, the mobiles are located conveniently in the community and will change locations every 1-2 months. 

Patients are invited for a virtual lung health check and if deemed high risk, they are invited for a low-dose, community-based CT scan which takes around 10 minutes. The newly introduced mobile in Merseyside is currently offering approximately 600 lung health checks and 360 CT scans weekly. It has identified over 110 lung cancer patients with over 75% identified as stage I or II with 85% going on for treatment. With the additional mobile system in Cheshire, the LHCH team envisions offering a total of 1,800 lung health checks and 780 CT scans weekly across both units.  

The SOMATOM go.All and SOMATOM go.Top CT systems from Siemens Healthineers are both equipped with unique Tin Filter technology which allows for ultra-low dose imaging of the lungs. AI-powered scan automation and innovations such as myExam Companion provide a personalised procedure for patients and guide the LHCH team through examinations. In collaboration with Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, Cobalt Health, and Siemens Healthineers, LHCH is bringing ultra-low dose CT scans to patients ensuring improved access to screening services.

“Several patients have said we've saved their lives through early diagnosis with this programme. We are doing exactly what the programme intended, identifying cancer at an early stage, and treating it,” states Darren McGuinness, Programme Manager for Medicine at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. “The SOMATOM go.All and SOMATOM go.Top from Siemens Healthineers allow us to offer low-dose, high quality scans at a local level and we can already see the benefits to the population as we help improve early diagnosis.”

“The earlier lung cancer is detected, the better the patient outcomes are. Facilitating CT scans outside of the hospital setting with the SOMATOM go.All and SOMATOM go.Top extends access to patient care in local communities,” states Carl Smith, Business Manager of Computed Tomography at Siemens Healthineers. “We are proud of our partnership with Cobalt Health and pleased to see the impact we are making together in the Cheshire and Merseyside communities.”

"As a medical charity, we have been supporting oncology services with the NHS for over 50 years using the latest technologies,” states Peter Sharpe, Chief Executive Officer at Cobalt Health. “Lung cancer incidence in Liverpool was 82% higher than expected when compared to overall figures for England and sadly, in many cases, the disease is incurable unless diagnosed at its earliest stage. This partnership with Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Siemens Healthineers brings us another step closer to revolutionising lung cancer treatment.”