People aged 51 to 74 years old, registered with a doctor in Wales will be offered bowel screening every 2 years.
The programme is expanding to include 51 to 54 year olds, this will be gradually rolled out over 12 months. People will automatically be invited between October 2023 and September 2024.
If you have any bowel symptoms or are worried about your family history of bowel cancer do not wait for your bowel screening test kit. It is important that you speak to your doctor.
Bowel Screening Wales will send you a bowel screening test kit in the post every 2 years.
Bowel Screening Wales receives your contact details that are held by your doctor’s surgery. It is important that your doctor has your correct name and address, otherwise we may not be able to send your bowel screening test kit to you. If you are not registered with a doctor, contact us to check if you can have bowel screening.
Some people may be invited for bowel screening who do not need it. We may not know if you are already being treated for bowel cancer, or are being followed up.
Contact us if you have any questions about taking part in screening.
If you, or a person you support needs help to understand or read the information we sent, contact us. We can provide you with information in different formats. For more information you may want to visit our Easy Read, BSL, Audio and Video pages.
As the cost of living is affecting many of us, it is important to know what help is available from the NHS.
While financial support for attending routine screening appointments is not provided under the Department of Health rules, some people who need to come back for further tests may be eligible for financial support.
The NHS ‘Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme’ (HTCS) sets out clear guidance to people about when financial help can be provided. The scheme has a strict eligibility criteria. For those who are eligible, the scheme supports the cost of travelling to hospital or other NHS premises for NHS funded treatment or diagnostic tests.
To check if you are eligible for financial support, visit the NHS ‘Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme’ (HTCS) web pages for more information or contact us, if you have any further questions.
Visit our cost of living web pages for more information www.phw.nhs.wales/cost-of-living