Changes to bowel cancer home-screening tests

A hospital trust is introducing changes to bowel cancer screening as part of efforts to save more lives.

United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust bowel cancer screening team said it was part of the first wave of areas nationally to introduce the change, aimed at helping to detect the potential signs of bowel cancer earlier.

The home-testing kit, known as the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), is offered to all people over 50 and checks for blood in a small stool sample.

By lowering the level at which traces of blood in a FIT test trigger further investigation, the NHS estimates it could help detect about 600 more bowel cancers early each year in England.

NHS England announced the change to the national programme in January. The changes in Lincolnshire are due to come into effect from April.

Health bosses said the move would also benefit 2,000 more people with high-risk polyps in their bowel, allowing patients to have treatment before any cancers develop.

Kirstie Cartledge, lead specialist screening practitioner at United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "This lower threshold for testing will capture more bowel cancers, where you might be showing no symptoms even earlier.

"We hope this will support improved outcomes for Lincolnshire's residents.

"If you get a test kit in the post, please complete and return it. It can truly be a lifesaver."

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