Written question WQ96678
- Asked by
- Natasha AsgharConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 6 days
Question
What steps is the Welsh Government taking to encourage early diagnosis for bowel cancer patients in light of new statistics from the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit showing that in 2024 bowel was one of the four cancers that accounted for four in ten cancer deaths in Wales?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
In July, Bowel Screening Wales will have completed the final stage of its optimisation programme, extending invitations to people aged 50 to 74 and maintaining a faecal immunochemical test (FIT test) sensitivity threshold of 80 µg/g. This positions Wales, alongside Scotland, as one of the only UK nations offering screening to this wider age range at the lowest threshold currently in use.
To improve opportunities for early diagnosis we are also working with primary care services on referral practice, rolling out FIT as a tool to triage referrals, and we have introduced rapid diagnostic centres throughout Wales.