People with signs of bowel cancer should be offered a £5 ‘poo test’ before invasive bowel investigations

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} People with signs of bowel cancer should be offered a £5 “poo test” before invasive bowel investigations, health leaders have said. This guidance will help GPs to better identify and refer the right patients for further testing quickly and could help detect bowel cancer at an earlier stage when it is more treatable and curable Dr Lisa Wilde, Bowel Cancer UK And it said that GPs can refer people for a colonoscopy without a positive FIT result “if they think it is necessary and where symptoms persist”. We hope this will reduce waiting times because fewer people will be receiving a colonoscopy they don’t need Mark Chapman, Nice “This guidance will help GPs to better identify and refer the right patients for further testing quickly and could help detect bowel cancer at an earlier stage when it is more treatable and curable.” Mark Chapman, interim director of medical technology and digital evaluation at Nice, said: “We know the demand for colonoscopies is high, so recommending the use of FIT in primary care could identify people who are most likely to have a condition that would be detected by colonoscopy. These recommendations ensure we are balancing the best care with value for money, while at the same time delivering both for individuals and society as a whole Mark Chapman, Nice “Introducing FIT to people as an initial test will also mean that those who are unlikely to have colorectal cancer may avoid having a colonoscopy, and those who are more likely to have it can be prioritised.