Lung disease patients waiting up to 10 years for diagnosis in poorer areas of England

COPD death rates in Salford are 3.9 times higher than in Bath. Photograph: Mark Waugh/The Observer

Ministers are being urged to roll out a better testing regime for one of the country’s biggest killers, with the most recent figures showing death rates for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease more than three times higher in some of the most deprived areas of the country.

More than 20,000 people a year in England die from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The most significant cause of COPD is smoking, but a significant proportion of cases are work-related, triggered by exposure to fumes, chemicals and dust at work.