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AGENDA ITEM 5 NHS BOURNEMOUTH AND POOLE AND NHS DORSET DORSET BOWEL SCREENING PROGRAMME: BRIEFING ON PROGRESS AND NATIONAL SYMPTOM AWARENESS INITIATIVE 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This briefing is to update members of Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees about local progress in relation to Bowel Cancer Screening, and the forthcoming national public awareness campaign about signs and symptoms of bowel cancer. 2. DORSET BOWEL SCREENING PROGRAMME 2.1 The Dorset Bowel Screening Programme has now been running for nearly four years. It invites residents from Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset aged 60-69 to have a simple test once every two years to detect possible signs of bowel cancer. 2.2 Each year the programme invites around 65,000 adults to take part in screening. The proportion of people accepting the invite is about 62 per cent, higher than the national average. Of the people accepting the screening invitation, about 2.3 per cent have abnormal results and are called for an assessment and diagnostic test, known as colonoscopy. 2.3 On average the screening programme detects around 50 cancers per year. The screening programme also asks some people to return for ongoing surveillance. 3. AGE EXTENSION OF BOWEL SCREENING 3.1 In April 2010 the screening programme began inviting people in the 7075 age range as part of its age extension. Following age extension, more people began to accept the invitation for screening, and more people tested positive because they were in an older age group. 3.2 The impact of these changes began to put the programme under pressure during the winter of 2010-2011, and it struggled to meet its target to offer everyone testing positive an assessment and colonoscopy within 14 days. 3.3 In May 2011 a decision was taken to pause invitations for screening to allow the programme to recover. A recovery plan was agreed, and the programme began recruiting additional screening staff to cope with the increased workload. 1 AGENDA ITEM 5 3.4 Since invitations were restarted in August, the programme has been able to offer everyone testing positive a colonoscopy within 14 days, in line with national standards. Performance on this standard has been 99-100 per cent for the past four months. 4. NATIONAL BOWEL SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS CAMPAIGN 4.1 The Department of Health is running a national media campaign to increase the public’s awareness of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, starting at the end of January and running for nine weeks until March. 4.2 The campaign is being run because of a national drive to improve survival rates for people diagnosed with bowel cancer, by encouraging earlier presentation. In Dorset, survival rates for bowel cancer are currently among the best in the country. 4.3 The media campaign will feature a series of TV advertisements using a clear message, “Be Clear on Cancer”. The public will be asked to see their GP if they have experienced a change in bowel habit persisting for more than three weeks, or if they notice blood in their stool. 4.4 The campaign is based on experience following two pilot campaigns last year, one of which was in South West England. These campaigns did appear to increase the number of people presenting with possible signs of bowel cancer. As yet, it is not clear whether more people were diagnosed with bowel cancer as a result of the campaign. 4.5 Dorset Cancer Network is working with local GP practices to support them in managing the additional people expected to visit their GP as a result of the campaign. The Department of Health estimates that this is likely to be one to two people on average per practice, equating to around 100 additional people within Bournemouth and Poole who will need a colonoscopy. 4.6 The PCT is working with local hospitals to plan for the additional people who may need to be offered this test to ensure it has minimal impact on waiting times locally. Sam Crowe Consultant in Public Health NHS Bournemouth and Poole January 2012 2