Roll-out of the national NHS bowel cancer screening programme began in April 2006, with the first invitations sent out in July 2006. Full national implementation is expected by December 2009.
We are continuing to roll out the NHS bowel cancer screening programme and expect it to be fully implemented by December 2009. The following table lists the remaining primary care trusts where bowel cancer screening will commence in the final roll-out.
Strategic health authority Primary care trust East Midlands Lincolnshire East of England Luton East of England South East Essex East of England Bedfordshire East of England Peterborough East of England West Essex East of England North East Essex East of England Mid Essex East of England South West Essex London Bromley London Bexley Care Trust London Havering North West Blackburn with Darwen North West Stockport North West Tameside and Glossop North West East Lancashire North West Trafford South Central Oxfordshire South Central Isle of Wight South Central Milton Keynes South Central Buckinghamshire South East Coast Brighton and Hove City South East Coast Surrey South East Coast East Sussex Downs and Weald South East Coast Hastings and Rother South East Coast Eastern and Coastal Kent South East Coast Medway South East Coast West Kent South West Bath and North East Somerset South West Swindon South West Wiltshire South West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly South West South Gloucestershire South West North Somerset South West Bristol West Midlands Telford and Wrekin West Midlands Herefordshire West Midlands South Birmingham West Midlands Shropshire County West Midlands Worcestershire Yorkshire and The Humber Wakefield District Yorkshire and The Humber Calderdale Yorkshire and The Humber Leeds Yorkshire and The Humber Kirklees
As the NHS bowel cancer screening programme has not yet been rolled out fully across the country, we have yet to identify any specific problems with uptake. We expect the programme to be fully implemented by December 2009.
When the bowel cancer screening programme is fully operational, we will be in a position to identify whether there are any issues surrounding uptake in any particular groups, including black and minority ethnic and deprived groups. If any health inequalities in bowel cancer screening are identified, it will be for those primary care trusts with low uptake levels to develop targeted programmes to tackle them.
A booklet entitled ‘Bowel Cancer Screening: The Facts’, which provides information about bowel cancer and sets out the benefits and risks of participating in the screening programme, is sent out with each invitation. A copy has been placed in the Library. This has been translated into a number of languages. It is important to note that no screening method is perfect and anyone invited to be screened for cancer must be aware of both the potential benefits and harms of being screened and be able to make an informed decision on whether or not to take part.
In December 2007, the Cancer Reform Strategy established the National Awareness and Early Detection Initiative, led by the National Cancer Director. The initiative will improve cancer symptom awareness amongst members of the public and healthcare professionals, and will encourage people with symptoms to seek medical help earlier than they do now. It will work with NHS Cancer Screening programmes on key messages and awareness programmes to improve screening uptake, particularly in deprived groups.
Full national roll out of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme is expected by December 2009. The following table shows the projected estimate of the size of the eligible population for bowel cancer screening (men and women aged 60 to 69) by regional screening hub once the programme has been fully rolled out across the country.
Sex Southern Eastern North East London Midlands and North West Total Male 697,907 514,374 398,156 427,502 656,134 2,694,073 Female 701,266 514,786 402,158 416,530 639,294 2,674,034 Total 1,399,173 1,029,160 800,314 844,032 1,295,428 5,368,107
The following table shows, as at 14 July 2008, the number of faecal occult blood testing kits issued each month since the start of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme, broken down by screening hub and sex.
M F I M F I M F I M F I M F I 2006 July — — — — — — — — — — — — 399 386 — August — — — — — — 1,263 1,230 — — — — 855 879 — September — — — 54 51 — 1,988 1,888 — — — — 822 816 — October 329 313 — 1,333 1,323 — 2,086 2,073 — — — — 2,431 2,453 — November 1,535 1,473 — 1,640 1,626 — 1,744 1,684 — — — — 3,415 3,351 — December 1,545 1,523 — 1,278 1,286 — 1,184 1,209 — — — — 2,667 2,642 — 2007 January 2,840 2,914 — 1,039 1,040 — 1,627 1,472 — — — — 2,880 3,025 — February 2,871 2,960 — 2,425 2,369 — 2,029 1,881 — 930 921 — 4,637 4,463 — March 4,078 3,939 — 2,300 2,207 — 2,394 2,284 — 7,329 7,352 — 4,369 4,248 — April 4,337 4,141 — 3,395 3,370 — 2,766 2,659 — 6,384 6,537 — 5,567 5,505 — May 5,085 5,043 — 5,588 5,705 — 3,209 3,248 — 7,707 7,550 — 8,677 8,681 — June 5,525 5,521 — 4,843 4,777 — 2,860 2,793 — 7,108 7,043 — 8,000 8,069 — July 6,187 5,992 — 5,051 4,987 — 5,594 5,487 — 3,709 3,616 — 10,610 10,463 — August 6,855 7,001 — 4,464 4,355 — 6,797 6,646 — 3,256 3,254 — 10,753 10,543 — September 6,481 6.134 — 4,254 4,422 — 5,260 5,174 — 5,628 5,726 — 11,660 12,094 — October 9,528 9,494 — 5,203 5,246 — 6,452 6,566 — 8,371 8,428 — 11,849 12,003 — November 10,555 10,629 — 5,129 5,043 — 6,795 6,770 — 9,868 9,874 — 11,546 11,274 — December 11,654 11,599 1 8,372 8,168 — 4,859 4,779 — 7,619 7,648 — 14,974 14,561 — 2008 January 14,721 14,960 1 6,096 6,137 — 9,526 9,414 — 10,182 10,192 — 13,194 13,286 — February 12,355 12,332 — 5,516 5,485 — 11,655 11,579 — 12,734 12,620 — 12,158 12,094 — March 12,940 12,833 — 8,894 8,898 — 16,564 16,481 — 14,481 14,573 — 15,108 15,136 — April 14,736 14,656 — 14,330 14,399 — 16,789 16,684 1 15,048 14,928 — 23,055 22,902 — May 16,526 16,282 — 18,152 18,158 — 19,238 18,955 — 15,086 15,000 — 27,272 16,748 — June 14,576 14,652 — 17,397 16,881 — 19,127 18,557 — 15,194 15,509 — 25,841 25,326 — July 8,613 8,477 — 7,802 7,685 — 7,132 7,089 — 6,766 6,818 — 11,776 11,697 — M = Male F = Female I = Indeterminate Note: Multiple kits can be sent out to a single screening subject if their previous test kit(s) were, for example, a technical fail, spoilt, or a weak positive.
The following table shows, as at 14 July 2008, the number of faecal occult blood testing kits returned since the start of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme, broken down by screening hub and sex.
M F I M F I M F I M F I M F I 2006 July — — — — — — — — — — — — 62 48 — August — — — — — — 314 332 — — — — 361 360 — September — — — — — — 1,023 989 — — — — 360 380 — October — — — 404 400 — 1,405 1,453 — — — — 896 870 — November 324 322 — 781 873 — 1,317 1,339 — — — — 1,537 1,703 — December 384 409 — 673 666 — 691 673 — — — — 1,282 1,270 — 2007 January 939 1,103 — 842 994 — 1,078 1,129 — — — — 1,909 2,041 — February 1,110 1,345 — 1,100 1,149 — 1,177 1,184 — — — — 2,226 2,227 — March 1,181 1,308 — 1,249 1,336 — 1,444 1,475 — 2,526 2,467 — 2,424 2,540 — April 1,775 1,908 — 1,311 1,400 — 1,483 1,527 — 3,309 3,538 — 2,391 2,584 — May 2,003 2,139 — 2,637 3,029 — 2,016 2,030 — 3,957 4,022 — 4,108 4,504 — June 2,042 2,268 — 2,862 3,143 — 1,606 1,698 — 3,738 3,772 — 4,398 4,733 — July 2,635 2,941 — 3,053 3,323 — 2,765 2,898 — 3,580 3,523 — 5,606 5,976 — August 2,385 2,570 — 2,647 2,843 — 3,383 3,636 — 1,816 1,840 — 5,966 6,521 — September 2,622 2,835 — 2,360 2,561 — 3,300 3,605 — 2,465 2,552 — 6,013 6,549 — October 3,028 3,263 — 2,748 3,080 — 3,099 3,370 — 3,799 3,983 — 6,672 7,382 — November 3,961 4,580 — 3,093 3,317 — 4,008 4,250 — 4,999 5,248 — 7,032 7,574 — December 2,746 2,864 — 2,454 2,431 — 3,211 3,266 — 3,597 3,513 — 5,066 4,924 — 2008 January 5,685 6,860 — 5,163 5,760 — 4,897 5,463 — 6,061 6,405 — 9,824 10,904 — February 5,091 5,864 1 3,562 3,885 — 5,581 6,118 — 6,234 6,610 — 7,343 8,077 — March 4,692 5,366 — 3,277 3,336 — 7,650 8,238 — 7,336 7,713 — 6,705 6,942 — April 6,104 7,101 — 7,118 8,321 — 9,371 10,510 — 9,253 9,925 — 11,590 13,480 — May 5,799 6,862 — 8,328 9,688 — 8,699 9,710 — 7,556 8,185 — 12,678 14,182 — June 6,115 7,109 — 9,263 10,442 — 10,623 11,433 — 8,481 9,216 — 13,940 15,572 — July 2,814 3,197 — 4,510 4,935 — 4,663 4,958 — 4,340 4,760 — 6,761 7,351 — M = Male F = Female I = Indeterminate Note: Multiple kits can be sent out to a single screening subject if their previous test kit(s) were, for example, a technical fail, spoilt, or a weak positive.
The following table shows, as at 14 July 2008, the number of completed faecal occult blood tests with positive results since the start of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, broken down by screening hub and sex.
M F M F M F M F M F 2006 July — — — — — — — — 0 0 August — — — — 2 1 — — 3 0 September — — — — 5 3 — — 0 1 October — — 4 2 13 1 — — 6 3 November 1 3 2 4 7 2 — — 6 7 December 1 2 4 0 3 3 — — 6 2 2007 January 5 2 2 0 6 2 — — 11 3 February 6 4 3 1 7 5 — — 13 4 March 11 6 1 1 5 1 9 3 4 7 April 19 9 2 1 5 0 10 3 16 3 May 22 10 8 2 7 3 13 6 17 3 June 21 19 3 2 9 2 17 13 17 5 July 20 16 7 4 14 5 25 21 12 10 August 19 11 8 6 13 7 17 14 17 18 September 23 17 7 3 15 10 10 1 36 16 October 31 19 11 2 19 12 10 7 34 12 November 33 21 12 1 22 8 15 10 28 10 December 25 24 9 5 20 9 13 4 21 8 2008 January 46 35 20 8 25 17 11 8 46 17 February 39 24 9 8 25 18 25 8 22 16 March 27 15 9 4 40 16 22 6 22 6 April 46 25 22 15 36 23 32 19 43 33 May 45 32 25 22 53 28 30 19 36 35 June 45 24 33 24 64 43 29 18 52 36 July 24 10 14 9 20 11 11 10 21 12 Notes: M = Male F = Female Multiple kits can be sent out to a single screening subject if their previous test kit(s) were, for example, a technical fail, spoilt, or a weak positive.