Bowel Cancer Screening

Bowel Cancer Screening

💩 Bowel Cancer Screening

💷 How much is this worth to me?

This template supports your delivery of:

  • Public Health England (PHE)/NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) guidance

  • Local enhanced services that encourage screening uptake

  • PCN and CQC documentation of informed conversations about screening

It ensures evidence of patient engagement, allows correct coding for recalls and safety-netting, and supports population health improvement.

📊 High-level overview of the specification requirements

Patients aged 60–74 in England (or from 56+ in some pilot areas) are invited to participate in FIT-based bowel screening every two years.

Practices are encouraged to:

  • Promote participation

  • Provide accessible information

  • Record advice given and any declination

This template helps document:

  • Verbal and written advice

  • Declines

  • Resource signposting

📌 What do you need to know?

This simple form supports three clear actions:

🗣️ Advice Given

  • Tick if the patient was verbally advised about the bowel screening programme

  • Includes explanation of benefits, process, and risks

  • Aimed at patients who have received or are about to receive their screening kit

📄 Written Information Provided

  • Tick if the patient was given:

    • Official BCSP leaflets

    • Printouts from the Bowel Cancer UK website

    • Translated or easy-read resources

  • Includes links in the template to:

    • Leaflets in other languages

    • Videos explaining the screening process

    • FAQs and support materials

❌ Declined Screening

  • Tick if the patient has explicitly declined participation in the bowel screening programme

  • This may trigger exemption coding in some IIF frameworks

💡 Hints and Tips

  • This is especially useful during NHS Health Checks, LTC reviews, or opportunistic contacts

  • Consider bulk invites or structured campaigns for patients aged 60–74 with no recent screening

  • Patients often misunderstand how easy the FIT test is — simple advice can dramatically improve uptake

  • Use this alongside cervical and breast screening templates for coordinated prevention work

  • Code appropriately if the patient does not wish to discuss (e.g. for safeguarding or capacity reasons)