The NHS has three national cancer screening programmes. Screening programmes are a way of identifying apparently healthy people who may have an increased risk of a particular cancer. If you think you have symptoms which may mean you have cancer, please contact the practice for an appointment. Finding out about a problem early can mean that treatment is more effective.
There are also a number of non-cancer NHS Screening Programmes and you can find out more information about all of these here.
Cervical Screening
Cervical screening is offered to all women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 64 to check the health of cells in the cervix. It is offered every 3 years for those aged 25 to 49, and every 5 years from the ages of 50 to 64. You will be contacted automatically by the NHS Cervical Screening Programme when you are due a smear. If you think you are due or overdue a smear, please ring the practice on 01204 463777 to check, and book an appointment with a nurse, if you are due/overdue. We can also book patients for smear tests at our Extended Primary Care Hub, at Tonge Fold Health Centre, in the evening or on Saturdays, if these are more convenient. Please contact the practice on 01204 463777, if you would like to book an appointment at the Extended Primary Care Hub.
You can find more information about cervical screening here.
Breast Screening
Breast screening is offered automatically to women aged 50 to 70 to detect early signs of breast cancer. Women over 70 years of age can self-refer using the details below.
You will be contacted automatically by the NHS Breast Screening Programme when you are due for breast screening. These checks are not done at the practice. If you think you are due or overdue for breast screening, please ring the Breast Screening Team on 01204 390454 or email bsu.appointments@boltonft.nhs.uk
You can find more information about breast screening here.
Bowel Cancer Screening
Everyone aged 60 to 74 is offered a bowel cancer screening home test kit every 2 years.
If you are 75 years of age or over, you can ask for a kit every 2 years by phoning the free Bowel Cancer Screening Helpline on 0800 707 6060. The bowel cancer screening home test kit has changed in recent years. It is now called a Faecal Immunochemical Test or FIT for short.
You can find more information about Bowel Cancer Screening, including information leaflets and a video on how to complete your FIT test here.
Screening for Transgender, Non-Binary and Gender-Diverse Patients
The cancer screening programmes are national programmes which invite patients for screening tests based on the gender marker on your GP records. This means there is a risk that transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse patients may not be automatically called for screening they should be invited for. For instance, a patient with a cervix should be invited for cervical screening but this will not happen if they have a gender marker other than female on their medical record.
You can find more information about each individual screening programme and how this may affect you as a transgender, non-binary or gender-diverse patient here.
More information on cancer risk and screening for transgender, non-binary or gender-diverse patients can be found here.
If you have any questions or concerns about screening, or think you have not received screening invites you should have done, please contact the practice on 01204 463777.
