THE WEST Midlands has become the first English region to pioneer tech-led bowel cancer screening, revolutionising healthcare delivery as part of the £10million Smart City Region programme.
Utilising state-of-the-art colon capsule endoscopy services (CCE), commonly referred to as the ‘pill cam,’ residents across the West Midlands can now undergo bowel cancer screening in local pharmacies, at home, or in other community settings.
This approach aims to drastically reduce waiting times and quicken life-saving diagnoses, with expectations to serve 2,000 people in its first year and slash waiting times from 30 weeks to a mere two.
Led by University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and WM5G, successful trials have paved the way for its implementation.
This scheme forms the cornerstone of the £10million Levelling Up Smart City Region programme led by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
Plans outlined in the NHS productivity plan focus on transforming patient access and services, leveraging data to streamline administrative tasks, and improving IT systems.
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA chair, said the rollout of this technology is a result of the region winning the 2018 competition to become the UK’s 5G testbed.
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive at Bowel Cancer UK, said: “Around 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK each year, but a lack of capacity to meet demand in endoscopy services means there are often long waits between referral and testing, leaving thousands of people awaiting tests that could either confirm a diagnosis or put their minds at rest.
“The use of new technologies such as Colon Capsule Endoscopy helps identify those who require urgent colonoscopies so they can be tested and begin treatment more quickly.”
