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<p>The Department is committed to working in partnership with its arm’s length bodies,
agencies and wider government to improve the lives of those with lung disease, including
silicosis.</p><p> </p><p>In January 2019 the Department published the NHS Long Term
Plan, announcing its ambition to improve outcomes for those with respiratory disease
to match, or exceed, our international counterparts.</p><p> </p><p>The Long Term Plan
includes commitments to expand access to programmes that support earlier diagnosis
of silicosis: from 2019, the National Health Service will build on the existing NHS
RightCare programme to reduce variation in the quality of spirometry testing. This
will also include the expansion of the pioneering lung health checks trialled in Manchester
and Liverpool and help detect a variety of conditions such as chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease which can be caused by exposure to silica dust.</p><p> </p><p>On
8 February 2019, NHS England announced that Targeted Lung Health Checks will be one
of the first projects to roll out following the launch of the Long Term Plan.</p>
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