The National Bowel Cancer Audit is an annual report that looks at the ‘state of the nation’ when it comes to bowel cancer treatment and care. It aims to improve care by measuring and comparing the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of bowel cancer patients across England and Wales.
This year’s report, which analysed data from more than 38,000 people diagnosed with bowel cancer between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, found a sharper rise in the number of cancers diagnosed through screening. These figures reflect the recent change in the age at which people are invited to bowel cancer screening.
This is good news because bowel cancers diagnosed through screening are more likely to be at an earlier stage when the disease is more treatable – around 90% of people diagnosed with bowel cancer at the earliest stage will survive their cancer for five years or more, compared with 10% of those diagnosed at the latest stage.
Sadly, the data also showed that only four in 10 NHS Trusts met targets for closing temporary stomas. After surgery for bowel cancer, many patients are given a temporary stoma to give their colon time to heal after surgery. Once healed, surgery can be done to close the stoma and join the two ends of the remaining colon together.
It’s important this is done in a timely way, as delays can affect quality of life and increase the risk of dehydration and complications. The current NHS local target is to have less than 35% of temporary stomas unclosed after 18 months, but more than half the NHS Trusts reviewed were missing this target.
Audits like this are crucial to improving the experience of bowel cancer patients, highlighting areas like closing temporary stomas within target times as priorities for improvement. We’re proud to have played our part in this audit by being part of the Patient and Public Involvement Forum, ensuring the findings reflected are accessible for our supporters affected by bowel cancer, and we look forward to seeing the NHS use these data to improve services for patients across the country.
Read the report here.