Bowel cancer screening services are under strain due to a national shortage of colonoscopists.
Health bosses have revealed that the shortage of specialised staff is putting pressure on screening services locally.
They have blamed the formula used to work out how many “scopists” are needed in each area, claiming that it creates more of a shortage in the North of England than the South.
A rise in demand across the country has also contributed to the pressures – but a hospital chief is still urging patients to attend screenings when they are invited.
Andy Ennis, chief operating officer for Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said that despite the challenges, screening staff are picking up growths and diagnosing bowel cancer at an early stage.
He said: “Demand on bowel cancer screening services is going up nationally, largely due to improvements to the home testing kit available for people aged 60 and over.
“The earlier cancer is found, the better that person’s chances of surviving cancer are. We’d encourage anyone who receives a kit to please complete the test, and attend the appointment if you are offered one.
“We appreciate that it may be perceived as an unpleasant experience, but our team are on hand to make it as comfortable and quick as possible.”
Mr Ennis assured the board of directors of the NHS trust at a meeting last week that the staff are working “very hard” to tackle the challenges facing screening services.
He also revealed that a new colonoscopist has recently qualified and will join the team at Royal Bolton Hospital.
But he said that the situation will remain challenging for the foreseeable future as demand continues to outstrip capacity.
Sharon Martin, director of strategic transformation, revealed that the trust is having discussions with universities in the hope of finding a future fix for the problem.
She said: “We’ve had some conversations with University of Bolton about training. But that’s a longer-term solution.”
All men and women aged 60 to 74 are sent a home test kit for bowel cancer every two years.
