Delivering the Cancer Reform Strategy

Written evidence from Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director

Public Accounts Committee Report on Delivering the Cancer Reform

Strategy – February 2011

Further to David Nicholson’s letter of 13 December 2011, I am pleased to

provide you with the evaluation report of the regional bowel cancer awareness

campaign, piloted in the East of England and South West in January 2011.

This is in response to Recommendation 2 of the PAC’s 2011 report on the

Cancer Reform Strategy that the Department should report to the Committee

on the impact of both the regional and local pilots by the end of 2011.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_133106

Regional bowel cancer awareness campaign

This report, which was prepared for the Department, shows that:

the pilot was highly successful in terms of raising public awareness of the

key symptoms of bowel cancer and prompted an increase in the number of

people going to see their GP (48% of these were over the age of 50, the

target audience)

there was a significant impact on referrals to secondary care and

subsequent investigations

while there was no measurable change in the number of cancers

diagnosed or stage of diagnosis, the pilot campaign did generate an

increase in the uptake of bowel cancer screening

based in the number of colonoscopies carried out it is estimated that

between 22 and 44 polyps (pre-cancerous cells) could have been removed

and therefore prevent future cancers.

In his foreword to the report, Professor Sir Mike Richards highlights the

positive results of this pilot in terms of improving the public’s awareness of the

key symptoms of bowel cancer and encouraging more people to see their GP.

He also stresses the need to sustain cancer awareness campaigns and other

initiatives in the longer term to bring about the desired behaviour change more

widely and achieve better outcomes in cancer.

A national bowel cancer awareness campaign is underway until the end of

March 2012.

Local projects to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer, and

lung cancer

This report includes local NHS management data that pre-empts the usual

annual publication of commissioner (PCT) based waiting times for suspected

and diagnosed cancer patients. This means that currently the report was

restricted for release until 23 March. I expect to be able provide you with a

copy of the report shortly.

23 March 2012