BOWEL cancer screening across Greater Manchester will be run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust instead of NHS Bolton from April 1.

The Greater Manchester Bowel Cancer Screening Team is currently run by Bolton’s Primary Care Trust (PCT) but will transfer when the PCT no longer exists at the end of this financial year.

The PCT is being taken over by Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which will continue to commission the majority of the services that had been run by the PCT.

But some services cannot be run by the CCG, including bowel cancer screening.

The CCG put out a tender to invite other providers to bid for the service and Pennine was successful.

The screening team works with people aged 60 to 69 years, who are eligible for free bowel cancer testing, and encourages them to complete the test every two years.

Evidence shows regular screening helps save people’s lives and the team plays an important role in promoting this and providing reassurance around the screening process and the test itself. Bowel cancer is the third most common in the UK and accounts for more than 16,000 deaths every year.

Screening has been shown to reduce the risk of dying from bowel cancer by 16 per cent.

The team of five will be based within Pennine Care’s Health Improvement Service.

Val Little, clinical network manager, said: “I’m delighted that the team will soon be joining our strong Health Improvement Service.

“Catching bowel cancer early significantly increases the chances of successfully treating it, which is why the NHS offers regular screening to people in their 60s, who are statistically more likely to develop the disease.”

To request a bowel cancer screening test, contact 0800 7076060.