NHS bowel cancer screening checks if you could have bowel cancer. It’s available to everyone aged 60 to 74 years.
The programme is expanding to make it available to everyone aged 50 to 59 years. This is happening gradually over 4 years and started in April 2021.
You use a home test kit, called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT), to collect a small sample of poo and send it to a lab. This is checked for tiny amounts of blood.
Blood can be a sign of polyps or bowel cancer. Polyps are growths in the bowel. They are not cancer, but may turn into cancer over time.
If the test finds anything unusual, you might be asked to go to hospital to have further tests to confirm or rule out cancer.
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.
If you have missed your bowel cancer screening home test kit, please call the free helpline on 0800 707 6060.
If you are having a Bowel Screening CT scan – read an information guide on what to expect.
For more information view the NHS bowel screening website
Please see a video for instructions on what to do when you receive your screening kit.