Who are we?
We are a team of Specialist nurses (Specialist Screening Practitioners or SSP), Clinicians and admin staff. We have one office at Castle Hill Hospital and Diana Princess of Wales Hospital.
We provide screening for people living in the Hull, East Yorkshire, Northern Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire area, as well as those who would normally access healthcare at Scarborough Hospital.
What do we do?
If you need more tests following your bowel screening, you will get a letter about a telephone appointment to speak to the specialist nurse. You can see the nurse using Attend Anywhere if you would like. Attend Anywhere is private and secure video call service for patients who prefer online appointments rather than physical 1:1 appointments.
The SSP will talk to you about your result and what happens next. They will discuss a colonoscopy and do a health assessment to make sure you can have one.
It is your choice if you want to have a further test.
If you agree to having a colonoscopy, we will send you an appointment letter or you can join the screening team on Patients Know Best and view your letter on there.
The SSP will send you the special laxative to make you empty your large bowel. This will make you poo a lot so that we can see the walls of your bowel clearly. You take this at home and should be near the toilet. It is important to drink only clear fluids when you are taking the laxative.
At Colonoscopy
An SSP will be at your colonoscopy and a screening clinician will do the test. The SSP will let you know what they have found after the test.
The test may show one of three outcomes.
- No polyps or cancer found – this means that we did not see any polyps or cancer, and you will not need any further tests.
- Polyps found – we might have removed them. They will go to a lab to be examined and we will tell you the results when they are back. Most polyps do not have cancer cells in them. When we have the results, we might offer you another test or a colonoscopy instead of the FIT Kit in 2 years. The SSP will tell you about this. Alternatively, the polyp might be big or in a difficult position so you may need to have another test to remove the polyp.
- Bowel cancer found – the SSP will explain what happens next and refer you to a cancer expert.
After the Colonoscopy
The SSP will ring you to make sure you are OK and have no problems. They will make sure you get any results that you are waiting for, as well as keep you informed of any further tests you may need.
What if I can't have a Colonoscopy?
Some people cannot have a colonoscopy because they have other medical conditions. These people may instead be offered a CT Colonography.
If the SSP says you can have a colonoscopy, they cannot refer you for a CTC because we cannot remove your polyps if you have the scan.