Cancer screening
Spotting Signs of Cancer
Early detection in Cancer is key to improving outcomes
Spotting early signs of cancer leads to a higher chance of successful treatment and saving lives, so it’s important to contact a health care professional if you notice changes to your body or bodily functions. It’s important to note that these symptoms may often be caused by other, non-cancerous illnesses, but we would always recommend that you book an appointment to see your GP so they can investigate.
For more information and support on spotting signs and symptoms please visit Cancer Research UK.
Bowel Cancer Screening
If you are aged 60-74 years old you will have received your Bowel Cancer Screening kit, known as a FIT test. The test checks for hidden blood in your poo, so that you know if you need any further testing
If you require a new kit please contact the national screening hub on 08007076060.
If you have your Bowel Cancer Screening kit at home, please watch this video on how to use the kit.
Please click this link for information on how to use the kit in your preferred language.
Here are some resources with more information about Bowel Cancer Screening:
Prostate Cancer
Please use this risk checker by Prostate Cancer UK to check your risk.
If you need information in other languages, please click this link to Prostate Cancer UK
Cervical Cancer Screening
Cervical screening, also known as a smear test, checks the health of your vagina. The cervix is the opening to your womb from the vagina. It is not a test for cancer, it’s a test to help prevent cancer. All women and people with a cervix age 25 to 64 will be invited by letter.
Please take a look at the easy read booklets from be.macmillan in a range of languages
Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust (jostrust.org.uk) - has plenty of very informative videos. Please note that this is not available in Roma, Slovak or Arabic,
There is also a Cervical screening: leaflet for women considering screening on the Governament website.
How to book your Cervical Smear
You will need to contact the surgery to book an appointment with a female Nurse or GP to take a small sample of cells from your cervix.
At the appointment
The sample is checked for certain types of Human Papillomavirus known as HPV that can cause changes to the cells of the cervix. The nurse or GP will let you know when to expect your results, once the smear is completed you will receive your FREE tote bag
After the appointment
If you require any further investigations your GP will inform you.
