Mansfield MP welcomes review of miner's lung disease treatment

Representatives from Nottinghamshire County Councils public health team met with Nottinghamshire CCG managers to decide on the best course of action for the future of lung treatment pathways for ex miners and other occupational groups as part of the general respiratory service.

They will be asking regional experts to consider whether their current pathways represent the gold standard of treatment for all occupational lung afflictions, including at the diagnostic stage. This includes whether it might be more appropriate to use High resolution CT Scans for some testing rather than standard X-rays.

Mr Bradley held a Westminster Hall debate on this subject earlier this year to lobby the Government to support the campaign.

The debate was followed by a meeting in Westminster with Government Ministers and nationally renowned lung experts.

Jeff Wood, President of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers said: “I hope that with the continued support of Mark Spencer and Ben Bradley, that the group will meet them face to face to give a verbal update, and confirm that the Gold Standard will include CT Scans for those mineworkers with lung affliction."

Mr Bradley said: "It’s great news that this long campaign is starting to bear fruit and it’s great to be working with Mark Spencer and the UDM on improving healthcare for former miners. We’ve taken it to Government, and we’ve taken it to local health authorities, and as a result they are going to properly review and assess how this works, and look at improvements. That’s good news for former miners across our whole area.”