We’ve published our BowelScreen Programme report for 2020-2021.
The report shows the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the delivery of bowel screening services, including stopping invitations and colonoscopies from March 2020. When we began sending invitations again in August 2020, endoscopy capacity remained at reduced levels. This continued into 2021 with the HSE cyber-attack severely affecting the capacity of our endoscopy services.
Over the two-year period we focused on delivering our service safely and to as many people as possible. Despite the challenges, we expanded to offer endoscopy services in Waterford University Hospital in December 2020, bringing the total number of participating hospitals to 14.
Uptake rates
The figures reported relate to people invited for bowel screening between 01 January 2020 and 31 December 2021. During this time, we invited 299,898 people for screening. Of these, 154,472 people chose screening, and 139,618 satisfactory FIT tests (faecal immunochemical tests) were completed and returned. This represents a screening uptake rate based on the eligible population of 46.6% - the highest uptake achieved by the programme to date.
The report highlights that people who have previously completed a FIT are more likely to choose screening again compared to those who are invited for the first time. Of those invited for the first time, uptake rates are higher in the younger age group of 60-64 years.
Cancers detected
Bowel cancer can be a treatable disease if found early. BowelScreen aims to find bowel cancer as early as possible and to identify and remove signs of disease known as polyps. These are abnormal tissue growths that can become cancerous over time.
We performed over 7,000 colonoscopies over the two years and removed 6,720 polyps. The removal of pre-cancerous polyps lowers the risk of bowel cancer developing in future. In addition, 208 cancers were detected – 127 colon cancers, 78 rectal cancers, and 3 cases of cancer where the site was unconfirmed - a cancer detection rate of 1.5 per 1,000 people screened by the FIT and a 5.4% detection rate at colonoscopy.
Publishing the report, BowelScreen Programme Manager Hilary Coffey Farrell said: “As we work to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity and build capacity that will allow us to expand the age range of the programme in line with the National Cancer Strategy, we will deliver continuous improvements so that we have a positive impact on population health in Ireland. In the years ahead, we will continue to work to ensure the quality and equity of our service. We will prioritise groups that we need to reach, to increase the number of people who choose bowel screening.”
- In October 2023 we lowered the age range for bowel screening to include men and women aged 59. BowelScreen is for everyone aged 59 to 69 who have no symptoms of bowel cancer. Check the BowelScreen register.