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COVID-19 Update from the Bowel Screening Wales team

Update from the Bowel Screening Wales team - 30 September 2020

If you are currently self-isolating, have symptoms of COVID-19 or are a confirmed case of COVID-19 we kindly ask that you hold on to your test kit and complete it once your isolation period has ended. If you have any further questions please contact our Freephone helpline on 0800 294 3370.

Update from the Bowel Screening Wales team – 01 July 2020

The Bowel Screening Wales cancer screening programme will start being re-instated with a phased approach from 01 July 2020. The programme was paused on the 23 March 2020 as part of the Public Health Wales and NHS Wales response to the coronavirus pandemic.

We are now encouraging participants who have held onto their test kits between 04 April 2020 and 27 May 2020, to complete their test kit and to send it back to us. We will reissue replacement test kits to any participants who had their test kit rejected by our laboratory during this time. We can also now reissue replacement test kits for participants who may have lost or damaged their original test kit.

It will take us some time to catch up and it may take us longer than usual to offer our participants further investigations at this time. We are working hard to make sure that everyone who is overdue their screening or surveillance colonoscopy is invited as quickly and safely as possible. For now we estimate it will take us many months to catch up the delayed participants and we are prioritising people with the most urgent clinical needs. This is dependent on many unknown factors including our staff and colonoscopy capacity, willingness of participants to take up their offer of further investigations as well as any potential changes in the COVID-19 epidemiological situation.

You should contact your GP without delay if they have any of the following symptoms:

  • Bleeding from your bottom or blood in your poo.
  • A persistent and unexplained change in bowel habit.
  • Unexplained weight loss.
  • Extreme tiredness for no obvious reason.
  • A pain or lump in your tummy.

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