Healthy Lungs

What is the Healthy Lung Programme about?

Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group is working with communities across Liverpool so that local residents have the opportunity to improve their lung health and so that we are able to help diagnose lung conditions early.

From April 2016 – March 2017 the programme was piloted in the NHS GP neighbourhoods of Picton, Everton, Speke and Norris Green. From April 2017 - March 2018, the programme will move to Croxteth, Anfield, City Centre and Riverside.

Find out if your GP Practice is included in the pilot.

People aged 58-75 years old who have a history of smoking, or are in this age group and have COPD will be invited to attend a lung health clinic at their GP surgery or a local health centre. After this appointment, if needed, patients will be offered a Chest CT Scan at a local hospital.

Pros and cons of Chest CT Scans

Why is it important to look after your lungs?

Your lungs are the part of your body that work hard every day so you can breathe.
They really don’t get much rest, in one day you can breathe up to 25,000 times!
They carry oxygen from the air into your blood and release carbon dioxide from your blood into the air. Your body’s cells need this oxygen to work properly.

Your lungs have a natural defence system to keep out dirt and germs but several things can damage this, meaning they can’t do their job as well.

There are lots of things that you can do to look after your lungs, which are just as important if you already have a lung condition, including:

being more active
eating a balanced diet
stopping smoking
making sure you have all your vaccinations if you are over 65 years old or have a long term condition
knowing the warning signs and symptoms of lung conditions including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) and lung cancer.

For more information please see our guide to looking after your lungs.

To find out more about how the Healthy Lung Programme is already supporting local people, click on this short film:

The University of Liverpool & Queen Mary University of London have produced a Preliminary Report into the impact of the Healthy Lung Programme which you can access here.

You can also download an independent evaluation into the impact of the Healthy Lung events here.