Dramatically reducing the deaths from bowel cancer is absolutely achievable if we put our minds to it
Jared Torkington ― Consultant Colorectal Surgeon
Around 900 people die from bowel cancer in Wales every year.
However, bowel cancer is near unique in the number of opportunities we have to stop people dying from it. With all these tools in our arsenal, some clinicians and charities worldwide have begun to ask: can we move towards a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer?
In Wales, this ambition could set the scale for what we can achieve.
We want to understand how we can begin to move towards this future. We've started with an evidence review, analysing opportunities to reduce bowel cancer deaths, and consulting with over 30 healthcare professionals to examine the fit of each opportunity with the reality of services in Wales. Alongside this, we have partnered with the NHS research group Cedar to consult with patients and carers, to try to understand their experiences and priorities for change.
Taking the patient-backed opportunities we identify, we'll host a series of workshops with patients and professional stakeholders, building a case for change.
With these voices, we will produce a shared vision: a roadmap to begin moving towards zero deaths from bowel cancer in Wales.
This project will be running throughout 2022, with key findings shared throughout the year.
