Bowel Cancer Screening

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Bowel Cancer Screening

We participate fully in a national screening programme. Tests are available every two years to all men and women aged 56 to 74, with national roll-out to invite people aged 50 and over expected to be complete by the end of 2024. People who are over 74 can request a home-screening kit over the phone by calling 0800 707 60 60.

People in this age group will automatically be sent an invitation through the post, then their screening “kit” so they can complete the test in the comfort of their own home. Your GP will provide your contact details and it is therefore very important that they are kept up to date with any changes.

The screening initiative aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage in people with no symptoms, when treatment is likely to be more effective.

If you wish to have your colonoscopy pre assessment appointment by telephone you can request this by calling 0800 707 60 60.

The screening is initially via a home test via a FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) kit which looks for hidden blood in stools. This does not diagnose bowel cancer, but the results will give an indication as to whether the patient is in need of further examination, which is done by a colonoscopy. A colonoscopy is a procedure in which a doctor uses a colonoscope or scope, to look inside your rectum and colon.

Bowel cancer screening can also detect polyps, which are abnormal growths that aren’t cancerous but may become do over time. They can be removed during a colonoscopy potentially preventing patients going on to develop cancer.

A colonoscopy clinic is run twice a week at City Hospital, twice a week at Sandwell Hospital and once a week at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

Services

Bowel Cancer Screening begins with a simple test that can be carried out at home using a kit that is sent to individual patients. If the test reveals anything unusual then further tests can be carried out in hospital by a consultant or specialist nurse.

City and Sandwell hospitals have a team of specialists who hold clinics for patients whose home tests have shown positive. Patients are assessed for their suitability for a colonoscopy – a tiny video camera on a thin flexible tube which is inserted into the back passage under local anaesthetic. This allows the consultant or specialist nurse to see directly if there are any abnormal growths.

A colonoscopy clinic is run once a week at City Hospital, twice a week at Sandwell Hospital and once a week at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

Bowel Cancer Screening Clinics

City Hospital

Pre-assessment clinics – Monday/Tuesday/Friday – mornings only
Colonoscopy lists – Monday/Tuesday – mornings only

Sandwell Hospital

Pre-assessment clinics – Monday/Wednesday/Thursday – mornings only
Colonoscopy lists – Wednesday – all day and Thursday – afternoons only

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Pre-assessment clinics – Monday/Tuesday – mornings only, and Friday – afternoons only
Colonoscopy lists – Tuesday – all day and alternate Saturdays – all day.