The introduction of the new simpler bowel cancer screening test has resulted in an increase in people participating and returning their tests.

The bowel screening test only now requires one sample to be taken and it is all done in the person’s own home.

From November 2017 to April 2018 64% of the tests were returned compared to the previous year of 56%.

In the least deprived areas of Scotland where uptake is the lowest it has seen an increase from 42% to 51.8%.

Although it is good that the simpler test has increased those that are returned there is still a lot of work to be done to inform the public about the importance of the test in the  early detection of bowel cancer.