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Bowel cancer screening

Ireland’s approach to improving uptake and supporting people to choose screening

BowelScreen is Ireland’s free national bowel screening programme and is part of the HSE’s National Screening Service.

BowelScreen test

We use a free home-test kit known as a faecal immunochemical test, or FIT kit, to screen for bowel cancer. We invite eligible people to do the test every two years. We carefully plan and manage invitations to match our capacity to deliver bowel screening in line with our standards for quality assurance.

BowelScreen age range

BowelScreen is for everyone aged 58 to 70 who have no symptoms of bowel cancer. We are steadily extending the programme to everyone aged 55 to 74. We are doing this in carefully managed stages, and in line with funding, to make sure everyone who needs it has access to onward testing and treatment.

Since BowelScreen began in 2012, we have sent over 3 million invitations to eligible people. Every year we invite more than 300,000 people to take part in free bowel screening. As we extend the age range, and as the population grows, this figure will continue to increase.

BowelScreen uptake

We calculate our uptake rate over a 2-year period. Our latest verified data for the years 2022 to 2023 shows an uptake rate of 46.4%. This is below our programme standard of 50%, and below the EU’s recommended uptake levels of 65%. The uptake rate among people who previously completed a BowelScreen home test is 89.2%.

What we are doing to improve uptake

Increasing uptake in bowel screening is a priority for us. We know that 9 out of 10 people who do their first BowelScreen test go on to do it again when they’re invited. So, a key focus for us is encouraging people invited for the first time to take part.

Making it easier to take part

We’ve made it easier for people to request their home test kit when they are invited to take part for the first time. People can now request their home test kit online, in addition to the options of requesting the kit by telephone or email. People can also check the BowelScreen register online to see when their next test is due and to update their contact details.

Reminders

We are trialling text message reminders to people who have already got their home test kit and not yet returned it.

Research

We are working with the Department of Health on a ‘Better Letters’ initiative for BowelScreen. This randomised controlled trial will test a redesigned invitation letter and compare it with the effectiveness of the existing invitation letter.
We are taking part in research aimed at exploring ways to improve uptake, including this research into targeted delivery of FIT kits along with invite letters.

Communications

We work with patient advocates who share their stories and encourage people to choose screening. Joe Grogan, from Co. Galway in the West of Ireland, took the BowelScreen test at age 59. It detected his bowel cancer early. Joe shared his BowelScreen story for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in 2025. Watch Joe’s video.

We design and run large-scale, evidence-based campaigns to raise awareness of bowel screening. Using digital, social, print, radio and outdoor advertising, we help people understand what screening is, what it can and can’t do, and how to take part.
In 2025, we’re carrying out market research to shape key campaign messages and reach people aged 55 to 61 as they become eligible for BowelScreen. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we’ll explore barriers and motivators to screening to improve our campaigns and encourage more people to take part.
Our Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) digital survey captures the experiences of people who take part in BowelScreen. This helps us to find out what we are doing well and what we can do to improve the experience for our screening participants.

Improving equity in screening

We are committed to ensuring that everyone eligible has the opportunity to benefit from bowel screening. This work includes understanding and addressing the barriers to screening and increasing health literacy in screening.

We completed research to assess the needs of disabled people in accessing our screening programmes and are implementing the recommendations of the report.
We work with local communities to support people to take part in screening.
We’ve developed accessible information about bowel screening, including easy-to-read and plain English resources, and photo and video stories.
We provide information about BowelScreen in different languages.
We’ve developed an Irish Sign Language video about bowel screening.

Our work to improve uptake and support people to take part in bowel screening is constantly evolving. It’s an approach that combines research, innovation, communication and collaboration. By sharing our experience, we hope to contribute to the collective learning across Europe as we all work towards the shared goal of delivering equitable, high-quality bowel cancer screening programmes.

The National Screening Service is part of Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE). Keep up to date with our latest news at ie
Follow the HSE National Screening Service on X @NSShse, on LinkedIn and follow the hashtag #ChooseScreening
Explore Ireland’s work to improve equity in screening: ie/equityinscreening

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Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor HADEA can be held responsible for them.