HealthInfo Canterbury
National Bowel Screening Programme
Kaupapa ā motu Tātari Whēkau
This page has links to information in other languages.
The National Bowel Screening Programme (NBSP) is a free programme to help detect bowel cancer. It's being offered every two years to men and women aged 60 to 74 who are eligible for publicly funded health services.
Bowel screening is the most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of bowel cancer. It could help save your life by finding bowel cancer at an early stage where it can often be successfully treated.
If you're eligible to take part in the programme, you'll be sent:
- an invitation letter
- a consent form
- a free bowel screening test kit, with instructions on how to use it.
For more information about the NBSP, see Time to Screen or phone 0800-924-432.
You can also call 0800-924-432 to get information or help in another language.
How a bowel screening test is done
The test is simple. You collect a sample at home and post it to the laboratory in the reply-paid envelope provided with the test kit.
The test looks for tiny amounts of blood in your poo. Bowel cancers can bleed when they grow so the test may find tiny amounts of blood before you have any symptoms. Finding bowel cancer early means it's more likely to be curable.
If your test result is positive, you'll usually be referred for a follow-up test called a colonoscopy. This is a free test to check for polyps or cancers.
Most bowel cancers develop from a polyp (a tiny growth) that slowly gets bigger over many years. If we remove a precancerous polyp, we can prevent bowel cancer.
If any polyps are found during the colonoscopy, they will be removed at the same time.
A positive test result is quite common and doesn't necessarily mean that you have bowel cancer. Only seven out of a 100 people with a positive test result will have bowel cancer. Whereas seven out of 10 people with a positive test result will have polyps.
A negative result doesn't necessarily mean you do not have cancer. That is why it's important to take part in the programme every two years.
If you've done a self-bought test and it's positive, tell your GP. They're likely to talk with you to see if you have any symptoms. They will examine you and do a blood test to see if you have iron deficiency anaemia.
They will also talk with you about whether you'll be eligible for publicly funded investigations.
People with a higher risk of bowel cancer
This New Zealand leaflet is for people who have a higher risk of bowel cancer. It has specific information for people who have had adenomatous polyps, previous bowel cancer, inflammatory bowel disease or who have a family history of bowel cancer. It tells you what bowel cancer is, what the symptoms are, how common it is, what you can do to reduce your risk of bowel cancer and what tests can be done to check for bowel cancer.
Certain people who have a higher risk of bowel cancer are eligible for different publicly funded screening programmes. If anyone in your family has had bowel cancer, if you've had bowel cancer or bowel polyps or if you have inflammatory bowel disease, talk to your GP about whether you qualify.
If you do not qualify for publicly funded bowel cancer screening, talk to your GP about your options. You may choose to pay to have private bowel cancer screening.
HealthInfo recommends the following videos
- Manatū Hauora – Ministry of Health – How to do the bowel screening test
These videos explain how to do the bowel screening test.
The videos are available in English with New Zealand Sign Language, te reo Māori and nine other languages.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Manatū Hauora – Ministry of Health – National Bowel Screening Programme Quick Guide
A pamphlet with information about the national bowel screening programme, including why you should take part in the programme and how to do the test.
The pamphlet is also available in te reo Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Hindi, Korean, Niuean, Samoan, Simplified Chinese and Tongan.
- Time to Screen – Bowel screening results
A factsheet with information about what a positive bowel screening test means and what happens next.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Endorsed by clinical director, Gastroenterology, Canterbury DHB. Last reviewed November 2020.
Sources
Review key: HIBWC-17275
