Will the Minister confirm why in Wales people aged 75 or over are not able to request a bowel screening test, when they are able to do so in England and Scotland?
The Welsh Government’s policy is to follow the independent, expert advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) which recommends routine screening for men and women between 50 and 74. This is because there are risks associated with screening as well as benefits. As such, there needs to be a balance between the benefits and potential harms of the screening test being offered. For bowel screening above the recommended age group, the additional risks from false positive results and any follow-up investigations outweigh the potential benefits in an older population.
The bowel screening programme in Wales currently offers screening to people aged 55 to 74. Work to reduce the starting age for bowel screening, in line with UK NSC recommendation, commenced in October 2021 with people aged 58 and 59 receiving invitations. People aged 55 to 57 started to receive invitations as of October 2022. The intention is to expand the age range down to those aged 50 and to increase the test sensitivity over the next few years.
The limited capacity of endoscopy services, exacerbated by the pandemic, poses challenges for meeting the UK NSC’s recommendation to offer screening to men and women aged 50 to 74 along with timely follow-on colonoscopy. The expansion of the screening programme is leading to large increases in demand for colonoscopy as more people are being offered screening, the test is more sensitive, and a greater proportion of those eligible are taking part in the programme. Our priority, therefore, is to make asymptomatic population screening available to all those within the recommended age cohort, at the recommended test sensitivity, before considering the evidence for expanding access beyond the recommended age group.
This is a very challenging programme, and it is important that those in the recommended age range are the current focus of the screening capacity that is available. Anyone outside of the recommended screening age group with symptoms of cancer should seek advice from their GP and where appropriate will be referred for rapid investigation.