Irish Cancer Society welcomes drop in colonoscopy waiting times as Bowel Cancer Screening Programme begins

Thursday April 11th 2013: The total number of people waiting more than three months for a colonoscopy has fallen from 2,528 in April 2012 to 468 in March 2013, the Irish Cancer Society has found. This is a reduction of 2,060 people waiting from last year. This reduction is attributable to the on-going work of the Special Delivery Unit in the Department of Health to reduce waiting times as the national bowel cancer screening programme commences.

The Irish Cancer Society remains concerned however by the Department of Health’s classification of patients waiting for a colonoscopy as either ‘urgent’ or ‘non-urgent’ and does not believe that there should be a distinction between ‘urgent’ and ‘non-urgent’ cases. Some patients have obvious symptoms but many do not and by classifying people by perceived urgency, some cases considered to be ‘non-urgent’ will be diagnosed with bowel cancer at an unnecessarily late stage. The Society urges anyone who has been waiting longer than six weeks for a colonoscopy in a public hospital to contact their GP to see if they can schedule a procedure as soon possible.

“We welcome the reduction in the number of people waiting for a colonoscopy and the progress being made by the Special Delivery Unit to reduce waiting times for this important procedure. Colonoscopies are used to detect abnormalities in the bowel including bowel cancer”,said John McCormack, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society. “Waiting lists are moving in the right direction and it is important that this trend continues given that BowelScreen, the national bowel cancer screening programme has begun and is likely to result in an increased demand for colonoscopies. The number of people with bowel cancer in Ireland is expected to increase by 45% in men and 34% in women by 2020.”

BowelScreen is a government-funded service delivered by the National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS). People aged between 60 and 69 will be sent a letter asking them to take part in the bowel screening programme. In time the programme will be extended to those aged 55 to 74. Men and women who are called for screening and who are willing to take part in the screening programme are sent a home test kit called FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) in the post. This test detects tiny traces of blood in the stool which can indicate that further tests are needed.

Test results are expected to be normal for more than 9 in 10 participants and these people will be invited for routine screening again in two years. About 5 in 100 people will receive an abnormal result and will need an additional test. They will be referred to the hospital for a screening colonoscopy to determine any abnormality in the bowel.

Irish Cancer Society Nursing Services manager Joan Kelly said, “We urge people who receive a letter inviting them to take part in the screening programme to do so. Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Ireland. Each year around 2,000 people in Ireland are diagnosed with bowel cancer and 900 people die from it. One of the reasons for this is that more than half of people with bowel cancer are diagnosed in the later stages of the disease which means that they require more complex treatment and have a poorer chance of survival. The good news is that bowel cancer is treatable if caught in time and screening helps detect bowel cancer at an early stage.”

Bowel cancer screening aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage in people who have no symptoms. “We advise people who are concerned about bowel cancer or who have been experiencing bowel symptoms for four weeks or more to contact their GP immediately. People who are concerned about bowel cancer can also speak in confidence with a specialist cancer nurse by calling the Irish Cancer Society’s National Cancer Helpline on Freefone 1800 200 700.” Ms Kelly said.

It may take up to three years for the full 60 to 69 age group to be screened. The Irish Cancer Society wants screening to be made available to the full age group as soon as possible as this group has the highest risk of developing bowel cancer.