Bowel cancer screening
Bowel screening aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage, if you have no symptoms. This is when treatment is more likely to be effective.
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Last updated: 2 February 2021
We screen for bowel cancer through home testing kits (FIT test).
Home testing
Everyone in England aged 60 to 74, who is registered with a GP, is sent a bowel cancer screening kit every 2 years. This may be referred to as a FIT.
The home testing kit allows you to collect a poo sample, which you then send back to a laboratory for testing. Find out more about bowel cancer home testing.
If you test positive, you will be sent a nurse clinic appointment at our screening centres in Cheltenham General or Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. Our screening centres offer:
- screening nurse clinics
- colonoscopy clinics
- follow up clinics, where appropriate
- alternative investigations, where colonoscopy is not appropriate
- pathology services
- referral for cancer treatment
You may need further testing, but we will discuss next steps at your clinic appointment.
Bowel scope screening
Previously, some people aged 55 were invited for a test where a healthcare professional uses a tube with a camera to look inside the bowel. This is called bowel scope screening.
Bowel scope screening is no longer offered.
If you were invited for this test but have not had it because it was delayed due to coronavirus, you will be sent a home test kit from April 2021.
Contact us
If you have been referred for follow up appointments at our bowel screening clinic, you can contact us on 0300 422 2827.
If you have any questions about bowel screening, call the free national helpline on 0800 707 6060.