Blog 12: Bowel Screening

All our patients aged 50-74 are offered National Bowel Screening – they get sent a bowel kit via the NHS.

The NHS invites each patient every 2 years. They send a bowel cancer screening home test kit. 

How common is Bowel Cancer?

Bowel Cancer is the fourth most common cancer and second biggest cancer killer in the UK^. It can however be treated and cured with early diagnosis.

• You are particularly at risk if you have a family history of any type of cancer
• In the UK, more than 42,000 people are diagnosed with Bowel Cancer each year
• Statistically, Bowel Cancer will claim 16,800 lives each year among existing cases

How Bowel Cancer Screening Works

You will be sent a home test kit, called a FIT test. You use this to collect a small sample of poo and sent it to a lab. The lab checks the sample for tiny amounts of blood. After this most people will not need any further tests. 

If they find blood in your poo sample, you may need further tests to find out what is causing the blood. They will offer an appointment then to discuss having further tests. They mostly offer a colonoscopy which looks inside your bowel.

Using the home test kit

To do the screening test, you need to collect a small amount of your poo using the kit. Please use a clean disposable container to collect your sample. You then send this sample in the post for testing. The kit includes prepaid packaging and full instructions.  
Once we’ve checked your sample, we record the result and destroy the test kit and contents.  

If you have any questions, please call the NHS free helpline on 0800 707 60 60. This includes if you:

• need help to do the test
• are unsure if you should use it, for example, if you’ve had surgery
• have a stoma bag (colostomy or ileostomy) and need advice.

It’s best to collect your sample when you’re not having a period. Avoid the 2 days before or after you bleed.

Bowel Cancer Screening results

You should get your results within 2 weeks of sending in your sample. There are 2 possible results:  

• No further tests needed at this time 
• Further tests needed.

Published: Jan 6, 2026