Bowel Cancer Screening
A national programme to screen people for bowel cancer is being rolled out across Lincolnshire.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, in conjunction with NHS Lincolnshire, has now begun to provide free bowel cancer screening for people aged between 60 and 69.
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the UK. Previously the only way to receive a bowel cancer screening test was by request to a GP.
People aged between 60 and 69 in Lincolnshire will receive bowel cancer screening test kits through the post from the regional programme hub. The test involves providing small stool samples for analysis and it is non-obtrusive and painless. The kits are being sent to people in stages during the next two years so not everyone will receive a test at the same time.
Once they receive their first test kit, people will then continue to receive kits every two years until they reach the age of 70. The screening programme is concentrating on people in their 60s because more than 80% of bowel cancers occur in people aged 60 and above.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust is providing colonoscopy services for the screening programme. Of those who take the test, only about 2% will have an abnormal result and those who do will be offered a colonoscopy at Lincoln County Hospital.
Further information about the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is available from www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk
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