Bowel screening will automatically be offered to all people in England who are registered with a GP and are aged between 60 and 69. In Scotland the age range includes everyone aged between 50 and 74. Invitations are sent out by post, to your home address.

If you are older than this you can still have bowel screening but will not be automatically invited every two years. Once screening is available where you live, if you are over the age for receiving an automatic invitation you can contact the freephone helpline to request a screening kit.

If you are younger than the screening age range, then you are not eligible for screening. If you have a family history of bowel cancer, you may be referred for specialist advice and monitoring outside of the screening programme. If you are concerned about your risk of developing bowel cancer you should contact your GP.

You don’t have to take part in the programme and are free to decline the invitation when you receive it. If you decide not to take part you can either simply not complete the FOB kit, or you can contact the Freephone helpline number to explain that you do not wish to take part (this means you will not receive any reminder letters).

It has been suggested that certain foods, such as red meat and some vegetables, can react with the FOB test and give a false result. However, there is no clear evidence that your diet will affect the result of your FOB test and you don’t need to change your diet before collecting your samples.

All NHS screening programmes have stringent quality assurance guidelines. All of the FOB test kits are bar coded with a unique number. Before the test kits are sent out the bar codes are linked with a person whose records are held on the national call and recall system. This makes all FOB test kits clearly identifiable as belonging to a specific person.

Although your GP is not directly involved in the bowel cancer screening programme, they will be told when invitations for screening are being sent out in their area. They will also be sent a copy of your results.