The English Colorectal Screening Pilot

• How does the pilot work?
• What if I am not eligible to take part in the pilot?
• What happens if the test result is abnormal?
• How reliable is the test?

How does the pilot work?

The second round of screening will work in a very similar way to the first round. If you are aged between 50 and 69 and are registered with a participating GP (general practitioner) based in Coventry and North Warwickshire you will automatically be sent a Faecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT). This is a simple test that can be done safely in the privacy of your own home.

The test looks for tiny amounts of blood (too small to see) in a sample of your bowel motion. You will be asked to smear small samples from your bowel motion onto a special card. The card is then posted back, in the specially provided envelope, to the screening unit for testing.

Once the screening unit has received your test kit, you will be notified of your result within three weeks. Most people (about 98 out of every 100 people doing the test) will have a normal result and not need any further investigations. For more details about the pilot, you can go to the pilot information pack

What if I am not eligible to take part in the pilot?

If you are not aged between 50 and 69 and are not registered with a participating GP based in one of the pilot sites you will not be sent a FOBT. However, if you are aged 70 or over and are registered with a participating GP, you can telephone the free help line on 0800 783 8042 to order a FREE kit.

If you are concerned about bowel cancer or have any of the symptoms listed in this section of this website, you should go to your GP for advice.

What happens if the test result is abnormal?

About 2 people out of every 100 people completing the test will have an abnormal result. Anyone with an abnormal result will be offered further investigations, usually a colonoscopy.

An abnormal test result is NOT a diagnosis of cancer, and can occur for a variety of reasons. Most people will not be found to have bowel cancer at further investigation.

How reliable is the test?

As with all screening tests the FOBT is not perfect. An abnormal test result is NOT a diagnosis of cancer, most people with an abnormal result will not be found to have bowel cancer at further investigation. This is worrying for the people involved, but if everyone with an abnormal result was not offered further tests, some people who do have cancer might be missed.

Alternatively, the test result may be normal when there is a cancer present. This is because not all cancers bleed. Out of every 1,000 people with a normal result, less than one will be diagnosed with bowel cancer within the next two years. If you have a normal FOBT result, it does not mean that you have no risk of developing bowel cancer. This is why it is important that you are aware of the signs of bowel cancer.

http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/colorectal/pilot.html
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