Your Bowel or Colon is the part of your body that digests your food. The waste food collects in your rectum.This page explains the treatment you will get if you develop cancer in the bowel, colon or rectum.
It also explains about screening for Bowel Cancer.
We are the bowel cancer screening service for southern and central Liverpool, the whole of Wirral & the part of Knowsley west of the M57 motorway.
We provide colonoscopy for the traditional FOBt screening test (poo kits) for people aged 60 to 74 and also the new Bowel scope screening test for 55 year olds.
The service is run by a programme manager supported by an administrative team who all work to support the specialist nurses who look after the patients before, during and after their screening tests. These tests are performed by a team of highly trained accredited endoscopists; led by our clinical director.
FOBt Screening:
If you have been informed that your FOBt screening test was positive, one of our specialist nurses assess you in one of our community clinics to make sure that you are suitable for the colonoscopy. they are present to support and look after you during the test too. After the test they inform you of the results and make sure that any other tests or referrals are booked for you.
Surveillance:
Depending on the results of your colonoscopy we may need to see you after another year or three years, our specialist nurses arrange these follow up examinations.
Bowel scope:
We perform the new Bowel scope screening test for 55 year olds; this service is being rolled out across the area and your test will be performed at The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Arrowe Park hospital or Whiston hospital, depending on which hospital is closest to where you live.
How you are referred to us depends on which service you are accessing.
FOBt screening:
If you have a positive FOBt (poo stick) test, the regional hub will book you into the community clinic nearest to where you live where you will have a health assessment by one of our specialist screening practitioner nurses.
Surveillance:
If you are on one of our surveillance programmes we will send all the information you need to you in the post so you know when our specialist nurses will be telephoning you.
Bowel scope:
If your GP practice has been made active in this programme you will be sent an invitation to attend for Bowel scope just after your 55th birthday
We are teaming up with Macmillan, Liverpool Wellbeing Enterprise and the Clinical Commissioning Group to look at how better we can provide our cancer patients to make sure you are as happy as you can be and that you're doing all the things you want to do following your diagnosis.
For more details, contact your Community Wellbeing Officer today on 0151 237 2670, email info@wellbeingenterprises.co.uk, drop in to the Macmillan support and information service on the ground floor in the Linda McCartney Centre.