Hi everyone! Welcome to Month in Review numero dos!
August has been WILD! Once again the weather has delighted and frustrated the nation as it remains predictably unpredictable. Transforming from heat waves and weeks without rain to the usual muggy, grey English weather we expect, and then possibly back again(?)
In more bowel cancer related news, Public Health England has announced that bowel cancer screening in England is to be lowered to 50. This will coincide with the rollout of the new FIT kit, which will be more sensitive and less complicated to perform. We’ve written an FAQ guide for the FIT kit which you can find here. This change of the screening age will hope to catch more cancers at earlier stages, which will mean better prognosis, less invasive treatment and a better quality of life for the patients. Wins all round! :D
We at the St Mark’s Bowel Cancer Screening Centre have been busy with continuing our work with pharmacies and GPs. We have been carrying out training and information sessions so that they better understand bowel cancer screening to relay this critical information to patients in order to increase screening.
St Mark’s have also been working with NCS (National Citizen Service) as local 15 to 17 year olds have been speaking to the general public about the work that St Mark’s does and their awareness of bowel cancer screening. They have also been raising money for the St Mark’s Foundation as they pack bags in local supermarkets. It’s great to see teenagers take an interest and support the local community.
We have uploaded our first non-English patient story video, with the ex-mayor of Brent Mr. Patel talking about his personal experiences with bowel cancer screening. North-West London is host to a fascinatingly diverse set of cultures and ethnicities, and we recognise the importance of reaching out to those who do not speak in English. We aim to do more work in different languages in the future.
We have also been doing a lot behind the scenes about work we can’t yet talk about but will hopefully soon! So do keep an eye out for that. (I know, what a tease!)
In a somewhat more experiment and novel approach, dogs will be trained to detect bowel cancer. This trial will see dogs smelling urine samples of patients, after having a 93% reliability rate in detecting prostate cancer in patients in another trial. You can read more about man’s best friend being man’s future diagnostic tool here.
As ever, for more information on what we do or if you want to know how we can support your community or patients then please email sameer.choglay@nhs.net or call 0208 869 3376.