Leighton Road Surgery Bowel Cancer Screening
How to get a home test
Everyone aged 60 to 74 who is registered with a GP and lives in England is automatically sent a bowel cancer screening kit every 2 years. The screening age is gradually being lowered to 50 so some people in the 50-60 age group could also receive a kit.
If you’re 75 or over, you can ask for a kit every 2 years by phoning the free bowel cancer screening helpline on0800 707 60 60
A short animation explains how to use your bowel cancer screening kit. Subtitles are available in English, as well as Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Farsi, Gujarati, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi and Urdu. A British Sign Language version is also available.
Vimeo: Using your bowel cancer screening kit
If you have not received or misplaced the kit that was sent, you can request another simply by calling the helpline on0800 707 60 60
Why is bowel screening offered?
Bowel Cancer is the 4th most common type of cancer. Bowel screening aims to find bowel cancer early, before symptoms develop. More than 9 out of 10 people (around 90%) survive bowel cancer when it is diagnosed at an early stage.
The screening kit used in England is the faecal immunochemical test kit – known as the FIT kit. It comes as an easy to use home test.
How to do the FIT bowel cancer screening test - Cancer Research UK
Symptoms and Advice
Always see a GP if you have symptoms of bowel cancer at any age, even if you have recently completed a NHS bowel cancer screening test kit – do not wait to have a screening test.