Smokers offered free lung cancer screening

Smokers and ex-smokers in parts of Kent are being invited to take part in a free lung screening pilot scheme.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is encouraging those aged between 55 and 74 to attend, with checks being offered at the Royal Victoria Shopping Centre on Friday.

The aim of the service, in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and surrounding areas, is to save lives by catching cancer early, the trust said.

Dr Stefano Santini, clinical director for the lung cancer screening programme for the trust, said: "Lung cancer is often difficult to detect early, and many people do not realise anything is wrong until the disease is more advanced. That's why this programme is so important."

NHS Kent and Medway Cancer Alliance is responsible for the expansion of the programme across Kent and Medway.

Clinical lead Dr Jonathan Bryant said: "Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer, so it's very important that people attend their lung cancer screening appointment.

"The earlier the diagnosis, the more treatment options there are."

From now, patients in West Kent will be screened at the Fordcombe site.

The scheme started in November 2022 and has been rolled out so far across the south Kent coast, Canterbury, Whitstable, Faversham and Herne Bay.

It is also in place in Dartford, with Medway and Swale to follow by the beginning of 2028.

Since the targeted lung health check programme launched, now called the lung cancer screening programme, more than 120 lung cancers have been diagnosed so far in East Kent - with the vast majority at stages one or two.

Ken Boorman, from Dymchurch, got invited for a lung health check in May 2024 and lung cancer was detected in August 2025 at an early stage.

He said: "I would 100% recommend people to go for their checks, it saved my life."

People diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stages are nearly 13 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late, according to NHS England.

Lung cancer is the third most common type of cancer in the UK and about 26,000 people die from the disease every year. Seven out of 10 cases of lung cancer are caused by smoking.

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