7th December 2017
A GP practice in Stockport has become the first in Greater Manchester to pick up a Gold Award for its work on bowel cancer prevention.
Beech House Medical Practice won the Gold Healthy Bowel Promoting Practice Award for actively promoting and increasing the uptake of bowel cancer screening with their patients.
The Gold award recognises the practice’s commitment and dedication, to ensuring that men and women aged between 60 and 74 years are fully informed of the screening programme and aware of the early signs and symptoms of bowel cancer.
The award is run by Greater Manchester (GM) Bowel Movement team who aim to raise awareness of the screening programme to ensure early diagnosis.
Free training is offered to GPs and doctors across Greater Manchester to help medical practices effectively support patients with information about the screening process and screening kit.
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK today, affecting around 1 in 19 women and 1 in 14 men. According to Cancer Research UK, there are now more than 41,900 new cases of bowel cancer being diagnosed every year however almost everyone diagnosed early will survive.
Joanne Street, Assistant Practice Manager for Beech House Medical Practice said: “We are very proud to receive the award. The team at Beech House have gone above and beyond in trying to raise awareness of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. It has enabled us to support our patients and encourage participation.
“As a team we see this as a long term commitment and will continue to build upon the success we have seen so far. We’re grateful for the continued support given to us by the GM screening team”
Carole Hill, from the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, said: “Beech House have worked hard to achieve this Award. The team have been dedicated in ensuring their patients are fully informed about bowel screening, and are committed to promoting this valuable screening process.
“Providing training to the staff at Beech House was important as we know that GP endorsement has a significant impact in both raising awareness of the screening programme and also influencing patients to participate in the screening process.”