Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support colonoscopy services following the extension of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to include people aged 50-74.

The age extension for bowel screening started in April 2021 with the 56 year old cohort and, based on modelling and clinical advice, has followed the planned gradual reduction to age 50 by 2025. This has been done to ensure that screening centres could manage the required increase in colonoscopy capacity.

Services have increased screening capacity. Screening and symptomatic endoscopy services are working closely together as part of the ongoing endoscopy transformation of symptomatic pathways, which aims to release colonoscopy capacity through, for example:

• the use of the faecal immunochemical test as a clinical triage tool in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance;
• the use of alternative imaging modalities such as colon capsule endoscopy/computed tomography colonography; and
• the use of other pre diagnostic tools such as the capsule sponge.

Bowel cancer screening is a crucial aspect of prevention, helping identify apparently healthy people who may have an increased risk of a particular condition, preventing bowel cancer and promoting earlier diagnosis and detection. NHS England is committed to delivering bowel cancer screening uptake across the whole population and is working to reduce inequalities. As part of this, NHS England is developing public communications to increase awareness of screening amongst younger age groups, particularly in those 50 years old and over cohorts, who are newly eligible. This includes updating online and digital channels and working with key external stakeholders.