Bowel cancer screening
What is the bowel cancer screening programme.
Bowel cancer is a common type of cancer in both men and women. About 1 in 20 people will get it during their lifetime. You may feel fit and well on the outside, but you can’t always tell what’s happening on the inside.
The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is a national programme that offers individuals the option to participate every two years from the age of 50. Stool sample kits are automatically sent to your address if you are registered with a GP. Automatic sending of the stool sample kits stops at age 75. This is because the risks associated with screening increase as we age. Also, the older we are the more likely we are to have multiple health conditions that may mean that we are not fit for investigations and treatment. If you have concerns please see your GP.
Screening can help detect bowel cancer at an early stage, when it's easier to treat. It can also be used to help check for, and remove, small growths in the bowel called polyps, which can turn into cancer over time.
The screening centre for the Dorset Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is based at Poole Hospital, with satellite screening sites at The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The screening test.
Home Test Kit/ Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) – a kit you use to collect small samples of your poo and post them to a laboratory so they can be checked for tiny amounts of blood (which could be caused by cancer)
If this test finds blood, you might be asked to have further tests to confirm or rule out cancer.
How to perform home test
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bowel-cancer-screening/
Risks of screening
No screening test is 100% reliable.
The risk of a perforation (hole in the bowel wall)in 1,700 (around half of which may require surgery)
Heavy bleeding needing a transfusion in 2,400
The chance of missing cancer or a polyp 3 in 100
There are no risks to your physical health from the home test kit.
Further information
For further information on bowel cancer and bowel cancer screening visit the NHS Choices website or Bowel Cancer UK
To contact the Dorset Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, telephone Ext 8751 (or call 03000 19 8751 from outside the hospital), or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To talk to a Bowel Cancer Screening Programme advisor, telephone the Southern Hub on 0800 707 60 60 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
