Scottish bowel screening programme statistics
For the period of invitations from May 2021 to April 2023

About this release

This report by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an update to key performance indicators for the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme. The report includes uptake, laboratory and clinical outcomes of screened individuals, for those invited May 2021 to April 2023.

Main points

For the two-year period from the 1st of May 2021 to the 30th of April 2023, over 1.9 million people were invited to complete a home bowel screening test:

• Two-thirds of people successfully returned their kit (66% uptake). Uptake was higher in females (69%) than males (64%).
• There was a 21 percentage point gap between uptake in the most (54%) and least (75%) deprived population quintiles. Uptake for both men and women in the most deprived areas was below 60%.

A graph showing uptake by level of deprivation and sex. Uptake is highest in the least deprived areas and lowest in the most deprived areas.

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Uptake by deprivation category and sex, May 2021 to April 2023

• 36,267 people (2.8% of the tests) had a positive result and were referred for a colonoscopy – a more detailed investigation. However, only three-quarters of these people attended their colonoscopy. This was the same as in last year’s report.
• Waiting times for colonoscopies has continued to increase, with only a fifth (22%) of people being seen within four weeks of their positive referral, a reduction of nine percentage points since last year’s report. Additionally, four out of 10 people (41%) waited more than eight weeks for their colonoscopy, an increase of six percentage points since last year’s report.
• Overall, 5.3% (1,444 people) of those having a colonoscopy following a positive screen were found to have bowel cancer. Three out of five cancers (61%) were diagnosed at the earliest two stages, when treatment is most likely to be successful.

Background

The Scottish Bowel Screening Programme invites those aged 50 to 74 to be screened every two years. Participants are sent a test kit to their home, who then return a sample from a bowel motion to the Bowel Screening Laboratory. Those with a positive test result are referred to their health board of residence for follow-up, with the majority receiving a colonoscopy.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be February 2025.