By Caroline Walsh, Senior Public Health Officer, National Screening Service
We’ve published a new report which captures the experiences of our BowelScreen participants as they moved through the bowel screening programme.
Patient reported experience measures, or PREMs, is an online survey which gathers information from people who take part in our BowelScreen programme. Screening participants who get a positive FIT (faecal immunochemical test) result are invited to take part in the survey. They receive a text message about two days after their colonoscopy.
Person-centred care is at the heart of our 5-year strategy – Choose Screening. By listening to the voices of people using our services, we can find out what is working well and identify areas for improvement focused on what matters to them.
The report highlights key findings from the survey for the period January to December 2023.
Survey participants
- 1,633 people took part in the survey, out of a total of 3,442 eligible screening participants – a 47% response rate.
- 960 were male and 673 were female.
Overall experience
9 out of 10 people said their experience of BowelScreen was either good or very good.
FIT kit
Most survey participants (98.8%) agreed or strongly agreed that the FIT kit was easy to use, and that the instructions leaflet was easy to read and understand (98.5%).
Colonoscopy preparation
- Most people (98.5%) agreed or strongly agreed that they were given clear information on what they needed to do to prepare for their colonoscopy.
- Most people (96.2%) agreed or strongly agreed that they found the instructions for taking the bowel preparation medicine easy to read and understand.
- 3 out of 10 people disagreed or strongly disagreed that taking the bowel prep medicine was easy.
Colonoscopy procedure
- 9 out of 10 people said that their colonoscopy was completed in under two hours after arrival.
- Half of participants (49.3%) reported no discomfort during their colonoscopy, while almost 4 in 10 people (37.7%) reported mild or minimal discomfort.
- The majority of people (99.1%) agreed or strongly agreed that they were treated with respect during their hospital visit.
Quality improvement
Survey participants are given an opportunity to suggest how we could improve the overall BowelScreen experience. We analysed a sample of 200 responses. Some of the areas identified for improvement include:
- providing more information for patients so they feel better prepared
- using a different bowel prep medicine mixture
- consideration of pain during the colonoscopy procedure
- better communication of results.
Next steps
We’ll develop a quality improvement plan with the feedback we receive. These valuable insights will help us to continuously improve the BowelScreen experience for people who choose screening.
BowelScreen is for everyone aged 59 to 69. Register now for your free BowelScreen FIT kit:
For Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in April, we’re reassuring everyone aged 59 to 69 that it’s never too late to do your first BowelScreen test.