Bowel screening (Hystool)

Hello,  I’m Dr Randev and I’m a GP in Leicestershire. I’m sending you this message from your GP practice doctors and nurses to encourage you to complete and return the NHS bowel cancer screening testing kit. You may have just received or be about to receive a kit like this in an envelope addressed to you.  Inside the kit is a letter, a return envelope and a plastic bottle with a stick in it. Why am I encouraging you to complete the test? Well,  bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in England and it can affect anyone.  This kit is sent to people around 50 and under 75 years old every 2 years, and over half of people complete it but we would like more people to do so.

The test is simple to complete and can be done in the privacy of your own bathroom.  Just a tiny sample of poo can detect traces of invisible blood which can be a sign of bowel cancer or other bowel conditions.  Early detection makes it nine times more likely that this can be treated successfully.  The results will come back to you within 2 weeks, and if blood has been found in the sample, you will then be invited to see a specialist nurse, with an interpreter if needed, to discuss having further tests, always maintaining your respect and dignity. 

So, how do you complete the kit? Firstly, place it by your toilet so it’s ready to use when you next go to the toilet for a poo. Write the date that you do the test on the tube but don’t pour away the liquid inside inside the test kit. Place a container,  this could be a plastic takeaway tray an egg box lid for example, into the toilet to catch the stool sample. The stool should not be contaminated by toilet water or urine.  Collect the stool in the container, take the stick from the tube and scrape some of the stool sample onto the ridges of the stick by running it lightly up and down the stool. Put the stick back into the tube and click it firmly to close. The tube goes back into the return freepost envelope provided.  Please post the sample as soon as possible after having completed the kit.

Finally, remember that the NHS bowel cancer screening kit can save your life, so when you get the kit please put it by the toilet and make sure that you complete it and send it back.