A new bowel screening service is being launched in Shropshire as part of a national drive to tackle the disease. County residents in their 60s will be offered screening over a two-year cycle.

The endoscopy department at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has been designated a screening centre after a rigorous series of inspections and examinations to ensure it has the best possible record for safety and quality.

Screening will begin with a postal invitation for stool testing, followed by a day-case procedure for positive cases.

Shropshire residents eligible for screening aged between 60 and 69 will not need to contact their GP or the trust.

They will be approached directly by the national screening “hub” based at Rugby within the next two years.

Anyone who returns a positive sample will be contacted and given a hospital appointment within two weeks.

A day-case telescope examination (colonoscopy) will be arranged shortly afterwards at either the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Telford’s Princess Royal.

Only a small number of people who test positive will actually have cancer. Many may have polyps, which can be removed during the procedure.

Mark Smith, the trust’s lead clinician for bowel cancer screening, said: “This screening programme will play an important part in improving the outcome of bowel cancer.”

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer deaths, with more than 16,000 people dying from it each year.

By Dave Morris