HALTON residents who smoke or have previously are to benefit from an £8m lung health check programme.

The scheme, which is open to people aged between 55 and 74, will be community based and offer access to specialist stop smoking advice and appropriate follow-ups, including a CT scan if needed.

It is designed to identify a range of health problems and speed up access to potentially life-saving treatment.

The £70 million national Targeted Lung Health Checks project is one of the first to be rolled-out following the recent publication of the NHS Long Term Plan.

It launched across the country on February 8 and Halton and Knowsley are some of 10 targeted areas which have a considerably higher rate of lung cancer than the national average.

The plan aims that by 2028, the amount of cancers diagnosed at an early stage will have risen from the current 50 per cent of patients to 75 per cent.

Finding and treating cancer at an early stage can save lives and more likely to be treated successfully.

Funding will be provided to Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, which will be accountable to NHS England for the delivery of the project and led by Halton and Knowsley Clinical Commissioning Groups.

The Alliance is now working with its partners to ensure this programme is established as soon as possible.

Dr Chris Warburton, medical director for Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance and consultant in respiratory medicine at Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The lung health check programme brings huge benefits in spotting a wide range of illnesses, including bronchitis and emphysema, not just cancer, and it is a great opportunity to access free support, advice and potentially treatment much earlier than might otherwise be the case.

"This builds upon the success of the pioneering schemes in Liverpool and Manchester that were acknowledged in the national plan.

"We understand that it’s not always easy or convenient for people to access health services, which is why these checks will be delivered on the doorstep, in communities close to home, sometimes from specialist mobile units."