NHS England marks 20 years of bowel screening after almost 7 million screened in 2024/25

NHS England said Monday that almost 7 million people had bowel cancer screening through the health service in 2024/25, as it hailed 20 years of a program that it said has now detected 70,000 cancers.

The figures, published by NHS England in an announcement on April 20, are the latest official totals released by the health service rather than the annual government program dataset, which is publicly available only through 2023/24. NHS England also said almost 85 million people have been screened since the program began and that a further 270,000 have received regular surveillance after screening suggested they could be at higher risk of developing bowel cancer.

The bowel screening program in England uses a home FIT stool test, which checks for blood in feces and can help find bowel cancer earlier or identify people who need further tests. NHS England is urging more eligible people to return the kits, which are sent by post.

The latest milestone marks a sharp rise over the past decade. NHS England said around 4.7 million people were screened in 2014/15, a comparison supported by historical program data showing 4,726,134 people screened in the period ending March 2015. The most recent independently published annual report, for 2023/24, recorded 4,710,330 people adequately participating in screening from 6,969,227 invitations, an uptake rate of 67.6%. That report said 5,320 people were diagnosed with cancer through the program in that year.

The program was introduced in 2006 for people ages 60 to 69 and was expanded in 2010 to cover those 70 to 74. The eligible age range began being lowered to 50 in April 2021, with the rollout due to be completed in 2025. NHS England said the home FIT kit is now offered to people ages 50 to 74 and that around 8.7 million kits are sent out each year.

NHS England said participation has risen markedly since the program’s early years, with only about half of people ages 60 to 74 taking part two decades ago compared with more than seven in 10 last year. Published program data shows the same broad trend, with coverage rising from 56.0% in the period ending March 2014 to 71.8% by March 2024. The increase has come alongside the switch to the easier FIT home test from 2019 and the expansion of eligibility to younger age groups.

“The NHS has transformed bowel screening over the last 2 decades, making it easier than ever before for people’s cancer to be picked up, and the sooner it is spotted the easier it is to treat,” said Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer. “There is no need to be embarrassed – a simple poo test could be the difference between enjoying many more years with your loved ones, or having your life cut short by bowel cancer.”

The 2023/24 annual report also showed uneven uptake. It found 70.3% of women took part, compared with 64.9% of men, and participation was lower in more deprived areas. Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of the charity Bowel Cancer UK, said the NHS had done “a huge amount” to encourage participation but that more people should complete the test when it arrives. Bowel cancer is the U.K.’s fourth most common cancer, according to the charity, which NHS England cited in its release.