Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the bowel screening faecal immunochemical test (FIT) to people (a) over the age of 50 and (b) over the age of 45.

In 2018, Ministers accepted the UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to offer bowel screening from the age of 50 to 74 years old using the faecal immunochemical home test kit. This is gradually being implemented by the National Health Service with invitations now issued to those aged 56 years old and over. Any proposal to offer bowel screening below the recommended age of 50 years old would require a submission to the UK National Screening Committee via its major modification process for consideration.