Peninsula Cancer Alliance Bowel Screening Campaign

Bowel cancer is the UK’s fourth most common cancer but if diagnosed at the earliest stages, bowel cancer is treatable and curable.

For cancer screening to be effective, it is important that uptake is high. To improve uptake in the Southwest we aim to increase awareness of Bowel Cancer Screening targeted at the eligible population.

The Bowel cancer screening programme has expanded

Bowel cancer screening is offered to everyone aged 50-74 every two years with a home faecal immunochemical test (FIT kit) arriving to you in the post. You will first receive a letter inviting you to take part and the kit will be sent out separately.
The kit can be completed in the privacy of your own bathroom using the simple step by step instructions on the box.
You only need to collect one tiny sample of poo using the plastic stick provided, pop it in the sample bottle and post it for free, to be tested.

How does the test work?
The test works by checking for tiny traces of blood, which may not be visible to the naked eye. You’ll usually get the results of your bowel cancer screening home test (FIT kit)within two weeks after sending your sample. Sometimes it can take longer. If something is found, you will be invited to have further tests, usually at a hospital.

Do you want to encourage people to complete their screening test? 

If you want to use our  campaign toolkit to try and encourage people to complete their FIT kits please follow this link.

If you want to spread our message over social media please ensure you use #SouthWestBowelCancer (on X please tag @PeninsulaCancer; on Facebook please tag @NHSSouthWest).

For further information on bowel screening please follow this link.