28 January 2026
Samantha Burns, Specialist Screening Practitioner, Dr Aravinth Muruganathan, Clinical Director, and Sarah Jewes, Programme Manager
A major change to the bowel cancer screening test is helping to prevent bowel cancer cases in the Black Country with early results showing an increase in people taking up the checks.
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has been at the forefront of piloting a new, more sensitive bowel cancer screening approach known as FIT@80.
The service went live in April 2024 and, since its introduction, the team has seen a 35 per cent increase in the number of people accessing it.
As a result of the rollout, nationally thousands of bowel cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed earlier or prevented altogether, supporting major NHS plans to save more lives.
Dr Aravinth Muruganathan, Clinical Director, and Sarah Jewes, Programme Manager for the Wolverhampton Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, said: “The team has worked exceptionally hard to deliver this additional activity, and their dedication and commitment have been central to the success of the programme.
“We would strongly encourage everyone who receives a home stool testing kit to complete and return it, so they can fully benefit from this important health improvement initiative.”
Nationally, the NHS estimates the change will detect around 600 additional bowel cancers early each year in England – an increase of around 11 per cent – and identify 2,000 more people with high-risk polyps, allowing them to receive preventative treatment before cancer develops.
Michael Tomlinson, Lead Specialist Screening Practitioner, said: “By lowering the FIT sensitivity threshold, we can identify higher-risk individuals earlier, helping to detect bowel cancer and advanced polyps sooner and improve health outcomes.
“Alongside recent changes to extend screening to people aged 50 to 74, this means more people in our community can benefit from bowel cancer screening.”
The home-testing kit, known as the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), is offered to everyone aged 50 to 74. It checks for tiny traces of blood in a small stool sample, which can be an early sign of bowel cancer.
By reducing the level at which traces of blood trigger further investigation – from 120 micrograms per gram to 80 – the NHS will offer 35 per cent more screening colonoscopies each year, helping to diagnose or rule out cancer earlier.
The change comes as the NHS prepares to launch new digital alerts to notify people when a screening kit is on its way to their home, helping to boost uptake. This forms part of a new National Cancer Plan, due to be published by the government next week, aimed at transforming cancer care by 2035.
Peter Johnson, National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England, said: “This is a major step forward in bowel cancer detection. Finding bowel cancer earlier can mean less intensive treatment, a better chance of recovery, and in many cases people can avoid cancer altogether by having dangerous polyps removed before they cause harm.
“Testing at the lower threshold gives us a better early-warning system, often identifying problems before symptoms appear, when treatment works best. I would strongly encourage everyone who receives a bowel screening test to complete it and return it as soon as possible — it really could make all the difference.”