The Effect of the National Bowel Cancer Awareness Campaign on Colorectal Workload and Cancer Detection Miss D Owais/ Miss S E Green Colorectal Unit University Hospital of North Durham

Aims Feb 2012 DOH launched first national bowel cancer awareness campaign Multimedia approach August 2012 second campaign launched in selected areas Aim of study was to assess the effect of the campaign on ◦ Work load ◦ Referral patterns to secondary care

Method Retrospective analysis of all 2 week referrals before, during and after the campaign Data recorded ◦ Number of referrals received ◦ Number of cancers detected (all sites) ◦ Number of colorectal cancers detected For analysis purposes data were split into 2 month periods

Results Number of referrals 2011 Number of referrals 2012 % detected overall cancers 2011 % detected overall cancers 2012 % detected colorectal cancers 2011 % detected colorectal cancers 2012 Feb/ March ❶ * April/ May * June/July * Aug/ Sept ❷ * ❶ 1 st campaign ❷ 2 nd campaign * p<0.05

Results During the 8 months from the start of the campaign the Trust had 1557 referrals compared to 1076 the year before Rise of 44.7% Overall cancer detection rate did not increase significantly after the campaign Percentage of colorectal cancers detected however rose significantly (p<0.05)

Conclusion The National bowel cancer campaign has significantly increased the colorectal workload in our Trust The overall cancer detection rates have not increased significantly but The colorectal cancer specific rates have increased significantly This has significant implications on the work force and resource planning