1 week Ago By Paul Gallagher
Iain Kerr knows all too well the value of a bowel screening programme that invites people to come forward at an earlier age. The 69-year-old Scotsman, from Helensburgh, had been living in England for 35 years before retiring to his home country in 2013. Within months he had been invited to come forward for screening as, since December 2009 when Scotland became the first country in the world to have a fully rolled out Bowel Screening Programme, anyone between the age of 50 and 74 could do so.
In England at the time the age was 60. Iain said: “I had my screening test and was phoned two weeks later by a nurse to advise on a colonoscopy, following which point I was told I had a cancerous tumour . I was 58.
“I was shocked. I came from a very working class council house area where a lot of people, including both my parents, uncles, aunties and both grandparents, all died of cancer. So I’d given myself a health education and I was absolutely devastated when they told me.
“But very quickly I picked myself up and thought I was going to fight this whatever happens. That’s I ended up working with Bowel Cancer UK. Whatever time I’ve got left I’m going to use it positively.
” Iain ended up having three bouts of surgery which left him using a colostomy bag for six months before surgeons were able to reverse the procedure. “I was luck in the sense that I didn’t need radiotherapy after that. I will have permanent issues because of where the operation was and difficulties with the bowel, but I live with those and take medication.
It’s been 10 years but the doctors haven’t signed me off and sent me back to the GP yet.” State of the UK England – Around 69 per cent of people take up their bowel cancer screening invitation. Around 40 per cent of cases are diagnosed early.
Scotland – Around 67 per cent of people take up their bowel cancer screening invitation. Around 44 per cent of cases are diagnosed eary. Wales – Around 67 per cent of people took up their bowel cancer screening invitation in the 2020/21 financial year, an increase of nearly ten percentage points over two years.
This is likely driven by the introduction of a new faecal immunochemical test (FIT) in September 2019 that is easier for people to complete at home. Around 41 per cent of cases are diagnosed early. Northern Ireland – Around 62 per cent of people take up their bowel cancer screening invitation.
Around 45 per cent of cases are diagnosed early. Iain credits the lower screening age in Scotland with potentially saving his life. “I did ask my oncologist ‘if I hadn’t have moved would I have died?’ To which he replied asking whether there was any point in the question.
Yes it would have been 2-3 years before I would have been screened in England, but he just didn’t know. “I was the same age as George Alagiah [former BBC News presenter who died last year, aged 67, nine years after being diagnosed with bowel cancer]. He always said if he lived in Scotland, rather than London, he would have probably have survived because he would have been screened for the disease at least three times before he was diagnosed at the age of 58.
That’s quite sad.” Wales joined Scotland this month in lowering the bowel screening age. 50-year-olds registered with a GP in Wales will be offered self-screening for bowel cancer for the first time and will receive a screening kit in the post.
Over the last three years, the age of bowel cancer screening has been lowered in Wales, in line with recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC). In August 2018, ministers agreed bowel cancer screening in England should start at the age of 50, although due to the size of the country it has taken longer for it to happen. NHS England started the expansion of bowel cancer screening home testing (FIT) kits in 2021 to include all over-50s (previously 60-74 year olds).
Officials said the gradual roll out was planned to safely implement the significant changes across the eligible population in England ensuring additional staff and training is in place to undertake extra colonoscopies and investigations, while ensuring patients are seen quickly if further tests are required. The final extension, to make it available to 50-53-year-olds started in April 2024 with the aim of completing this by March 2025. Once complete, the age extension will mean an additional 4.
2 million people are invited for bowel cancer screening, giving the best chance of an earlier diagnosis. Northern Ireland will remain the only part of the UK where the screening age is between 60 and 74. Read Next Denmark cancer survival rates were as bad as UK – here's how they improved Screening can help spot bowel cancer before symptoms start and detect polyps – noncancerous growths – which can be removed and prevent cancer from developing in the first place.
Jennifer Bamforth, Head of Policy and Influencing (England) for Bowel Cancer UK, said: “Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK but it’s treatable and curable if diagnosed at an early stage. “Screening is one of the best ways to spot the disease early when it’s easier to treat, so it’s fantastic to see the optimisation of the Wales Screening Programme lower the eligible screening age to 50. This is something we have long campaigned for across the UK.
” She said the gradual change in England is necessary to ensure it is done safely and without overwhelming screening and diagnostic services. “Moving forward, we hope to see a continued commitment from Governments across the UK to optimise screening in line with UKNSC recommendations to ensure parity for people in every nation. We look forward to working with the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to deliver on these key objectives and ultimately improve survival of bowel cancer.
” On Saturday, Six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy revealed he has “two to four years” left to live after a recent terminal cancer diagnosis. Hoy, 48, announced in February that he was being treated for cancer but stated that treatment was “going really well.” But a scan last September showed a tumour in his shoulder, a second scan found the main cancer to be in his prostate – which has since spread to Hoy’s shoulder, pelvis, hip, ribs and spine.
Hoy told The Sunday Times : “As unnatural as it feels, this is nature.” The 48-year-old added that he has kept his terminal diagnosis private for a year. “You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process.
You remind yourself, aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible. But most of the battle for me with cancer hasn’t been physical. For me, it has been in my head.
” Health Secretary Wes Streeting is said to be considering reviving the use of a dedicated long-term cancer strategy for England amid record numbers of people being diagnosed with the disease and NHS cancer services struggling to meet demand. Four cancer-specific action plans were published by Labour and Tory governments between 2000 and 2015, which helped to improve treatment, waiting times and survival. However, in January last year then Health Secretary Steve Barclay provoked fury among specialists and charities such as Cancer Research UK when he announced that plans to boost cancer care were being subsumed into a much wider-ranging major conditions strategy.
Bowel cancer symptoms Symptoms of bowel cancer may include: Other symptoms include tummy pain, a lump in your tummy, bloating, losing weight without trying, or feeling very tired for no reason. Bowel cancer can cause anaemia (when you have fewer red blood cells than usual), which can make you feel very tired, short of breath and have headaches. The NHS advises seeing a GP if you have any symptoms of bowel cancer for 3 weeks or more.
They warned that a disease that kills 167,000 people a year in the UK would not get the focus it merits when it was part of a document that also covered heart disease, mental illness, dementia, lung health and joint problems. But Mr Streeting – himself a kidney cancer survivor – is said to be considering reviving a specific plan that would address issues such as long waiting times for care, frontline cancer services’ lack of staff and how best to ensure patients can access emerging treatments. Figures published this week show the NHS diagnosed over 11,000 more cancers in 2022, reaching a new record high level – with almost 950 people a day getting a diagnosis in England.
The latest Cancer Registration Statistics show more cancers were diagnosed in 2022, with 346,217 new diagnoses – on average 948 a day – compared to 329,664 in 2021, an increase of 5 per cent. The figures show that among men there was a 7 per cent increase in overall cancer diagnoses in 2022, from 167,917 to 180,877. This was mainly due to the increase in prostate cancers which rose by more than a quarter to 54,732.
In women, there was a 2 per cent increase in diagnoses, from 161,747 to 165,340. More cancers continue to be diagnosed and registered among men (180,877) than women (165,340). After prostate and breast cancer, the next most commonly diagnosed in 2022 were lung and then bowel cancer.
Iain says the move to standardise the bowel screening age across the UK is “absolutely vital” to save lives given the importance of early diagnosis. “You pick up more cases, fewer people die and you save money because people might not need such advanced treatment,” he said.” One consultant in Scotland who has taught in London told meet that as England is so much bigger [than the rest of the UK] it has a problem with capacity: as soon as you screen you need endoscopy units and the staff to carry those out; and culturally, and politically, they’ve had governments which know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
But I know if I hadn’t been screened when I was, I wouldn’t be here today.” There is provision for people to be screened before the target age of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme, officials said. Those deemed to be at ‘high risk’, including those with a family history of bowel cancer, are recommended to talk with their GP about surveillance of their condition.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Cancer patients are being failed – waiting too long for a diagnosis and treatment. As part of our 10-year plan to fix our broken NHS, we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention, to diagnosis, treatment, and research. “NHS England is working to extend bowel cancer screening to 50-year-olds and we encourage everyone to take up their screening offer when the home test kit arrives through the post.
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