Written question WQ96498
- Asked by
- Mabon ap GwynforPlaid
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 7 days
Question
What consideration has the Cabinet Secretary given to the recommendations in the GICOLD 2025 annual report on Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of COPD that lung cancer screening should be utilised to perform spirometry in people at high risk of having COPD during lung cancer screening programmes?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Welsh Government follows the independent, expert advice of the UK National Screening Committee which does not currently recommend screening for COPD.
The Welsh Government expects health boards to deliver spirometry and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) testing in line with clinical standards and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. We have emphasised the importance of community-based access to spirometry in the Quality Statement for Respiratory Disease. The NHS Executive is developing new service pathways for new presentations of breathlessness, which are likely to support better community-based provision of spirometry and FeNO.