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NHS England Lowers Bowel Screening FIT Trigger to 80µg Hb/g Next Month

NHS modelling indicates the lower trigger will catch more cases at an earlier stage.

Overview

  • From February, the NHS App will send alerts to let eligible people know a home kit is on the way, with postal letters still provided for those who need them.
  • Projections indicate about 600 more early cancer detections and roughly 2,000 additional high‑risk polyp findings each year, with late‑stage diagnoses and deaths falling by around 6% and annual savings of about £32 million.
  • The share of participants needing further checks is expected to rise from about 2% to 3%, driving approximately 35% more screening colonoscopies, or around 34,000 extra procedures annually.
  • Rollout across England is scheduled to complete by March 2028 under UK screening guidance that ultimately points to a 20µg threshold when service capacity allows.
  • Pilots at eight early‑adopting services found over 60 additional cancers and nearly 500 high‑risk polyps, and the new 80µg level now matches Scotland and Wales while Northern Ireland remains at 120µg.