April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month
Bowel Cancer is treatable and curable if diagnosed early
TAMESIDE and Glossop residents are being urged to contact their GP if they spot the symptoms of bowel cancer. It is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK with someone diagnosed every 15 minutes. But it shouldn’t be, as it’s treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early. This April is Bowel Cancer Awareness month and NHS Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is backing Bowel Cancer UK’s campaign urging local people to contact their GP practice if they have any symptoms or if things don’t feel right. Year on year the CCG continues to see an increase in the number of people who complete a bowel screening test when offered, this is in line with NHS England but remains below the National standard (75%). Bowel cancer is more common in the over 50s but can affect people of all ages. Increasing the chances of an early diagnosis could save a person’s life. In March 2020, 62.1% of eligible people in Tameside and Glossop, aged between 60 and 74 years of age, were screened for bowel cancer within the last 30 months. Nearly everyone survives bowel cancer if diagnosed at the earliest stage, however this drops significantly as the disease develops. The symptoms of bowel cancer can include:
- Bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your poo
- A persistent and unexplained change in bowel habit
- Unexplained weight loss
- Extreme tiredness for no obvious reason
- A pain or lump in your tummy
Dr Ashwin Ramachandra, Co-Chair at NHS Tameside and Glossop CCG, said: “Most people with these symptoms don’t have bowel cancer. Other health problems can cause similar symptoms, but if you have one or more of the symptoms highlighted, or if things just don’t feel right, contact your GP practice.” Bowel Cancer UK are offering free online awareness talks to workplaces and community groups about symptoms, risk factors and screening and can offer training in all aspects of bowel health, screening and symptom awareness. During April, they are also encouraging people to sign up to Step up for 30! It's really simple, just get active every day and ask family, friends and colleagues to sponsor you. Whilst you’re getting fitter and feeling healthier, you’ll also be raising money to help stop people dying of bowel cancer by funding vital services and lifesaving research. Sign up today. For more information visit bowelcanceruk.org.uk Campaign information can also be found at: https://www.tamesideandglossopccg.org/campaigns/bowel-cancer-awareness
NHS 2021 GP PATIENT SURVEY is now open
Your views can help improve local GP and health services. Some patients registered at this GP practice will soon be invited to take part in a national survey about their experiences of local NHS services.
If you receive a questionnaire, please help NHS England by filling it in as soon as possible.
It is really important that we hear your views, even if you have received a questionnaire like this before. Your response will help to improve GP practices and other local NHS services so they better meet your needs.
Visit www.gp-patient.co.uk to find out more.
The GP Patient Survey is an independent survey run by Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England. Around 2.3 million people, aged 16 and over, who are registered with a GP practice in England will receive an invitation by letter.
It is designed to give patients the opportunity to feed back about their experiences of their GP practice and covers issues that concern patients, such as access to care and satisfaction with treatment, how easy or hard it is to make an appointment, satisfaction with opening hours, the quality of care received, and more.
The data provides vital information to the NHS to identify what’s working well and what can be improved. It helps identify inequalities in experience too, such as for certain age or ethnic groups or people with other protected characteristics. It can also provide new information that does not come to light in other ways. Last year’s survey helped the NHS to learn more about the high proportion of people who have caring responsibilities and about how this affects their experiences of using health services.
Anyone who receives a questionnaire is urged to help NHS England by filling it in as soon as possible.
Dr Ashwin Ramachandra, Co-Chair at NHS Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning said: “Over the last twelve challenging months GP practices have had to make some changes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic so they could continue to provide their services. As a result, it is more important than ever that a patient’s experience of local NHS services during this period, even if they haven’t visited their GP practice in a long time, or filled in a questionnaire before, are heard.
“The more people who respond to their invitation to take part in the survey, the better the quality of information received about experiences of using general practice.”
(Site updated 14/04/2021)