Blogs

New lung cancer case finding programme manager, Lucy Devapal tells us about her role and the trust's work to reduce inequalities in lung cancer cases

My name is Lucy and I’m the new lung cancer case finding programme manager for Northumbria Healthcare.  My background is in public health and oral health in particular. I have worked in local authority public health teams for several years now, including Northumberland County Council. Work in public health can be varied but most recently I was working in health protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. I worked from home during that time and it has been good to join the trust and meet new people again….in person!

The opportunity to work in lung cancer case finding came up and the main appeal of this project was being able to be part of the new screening pilot which has the real potential to save lives. When I was offered the role, I jumped at the chance and joined the trust in October 2022.   

Lung cancer is often diagnosed late, however, screening can detect lung cancer at a much earlier stage and therefore the patient outcomes can be much better.  The lung cancer case finding pilot has already had great results in North Tyneside, with 12 lives being saved, and we now hope to extend the project to parts of Northumberland too.  

My role will involve managing the pilots that are running in a number of GP practices. The aim is to reach people at high risk to offer them a scan which can detect lung cancer early and at a stage where it is curable.  I am really excited to be part of a passionate and enthusiastic team and I am looking forward to working with our partners in primary care.

Lung cancer is most common in deprived areas, causing a health inequality in our local communities, so we will be focusing on these areas. This project will help us to contribute towards the trust’s aim of reducing health inequalities and, most importantly, it will help us detect and diagnose cases earlier, giving greater survival rates and clinical outcomes. We will also work with patients to further improve their experience of the lung cancer pathway. 

This project can truly make a difference to our patients’ lives so I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck in (sorry that’s my oral health background coming out there!) and updating you all on the progress of the project.

For more information on the results of the early screening lung cancer pilot project so far, please visit www.northumbria.nhs.uk/lungcancerpilot.