Health chiefs hail new test figures

Health bosses are praising a new, simpler bowel screening test, which has seen participation reach a record high.

Renfrewshire’s health board area was one of the first in the UK, to introduce the new Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) in November 2017.

The new test requires the collection of just one sample, rather than three over a 10 day period as was previously the case.

And figures show from November 2017 to April 2018, 64 per cent of those eligible returned their FIT.

This is up from 56 per cent in the same period of the year before.

In deprived areas, the participation rate has also shot up from 42 per cent to 51.8 per cent.

Men doing the test also rose by more than nine percentage points, from 52.6 per cent to 61.8 per cent and there has been a marked increase (8.2 per cent to 18.4 per cent ) in uptake among those who had never participated before.

Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “The fact that more people than ever before are taking part in the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme is very encouraging.

“We know that the earlier a cancer is detected, the greater the chances of successful t reatment and often cure.

“This is why we launched our Detect Cancer Early p ro g ramme in 2012 backed by a £ 42 million investment.

“Screening remains one of the most effective ways to find bowel cancer early and help reduce health inequalities in cancer outcomes.

“This is why I’m delighted to see one of the biggest improvements was amongst those living in deprived areas.”

In Renfrewshire men and women aged 50 to 74 are invited every two years to take part in bowel screening.