Launching our Specialist Centres for bowel cancer

Following the successful launch of the Specialist Centres for breast cancer in 2019, we’re delighted to let you know that we’ve expanded services to include bowel cancer.

Every 15 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with bowel cancer¹ and it’s the second most common cause of cancer death². So, it’s vital that we raise the profile of this disease and drive early diagnosis for our customers, to make sure that they have better outcomes. COVID-19 has also impacted the number of people diagnosed with bowel cancer and April 2020 saw the number of colonoscopies fall by over 90%³

Specialist Centres demonstrate enhanced levels of assurance and governance around quality of care, customer experience and market leading speed of access to care. They perform initial diagnostic tests and scans for breast and bowel cancer in one place, letting our customers know if they have the disease or the all-clear all on the same day.

For breast cancer, Specialist Centres commit to offering an appointment within two working days. Specialist Centres for bowel cancer offer customers an appointment within four working days of them contacting us. This allows time for the pre-test medications to be posted directly to customers, which means one less thing to worry about.

If cancer is detected, customers can have further diagnostic tests during the same appointment. All treatment decisions will be supported by a skilled multidisciplinary team of oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, and cancer nurse specialists who are on hand to help our customers get a fast diagnosis and the very best treatment and care, as well as helping to make things feel a little less daunting.

The Specialist Centres commit to starting treatment within 31 days of the customer calling Bupa. This is twice as fast as the national standard, and our customers will also have access to clinical trials and genetic testing, if appropriate.

James Sherwood, General Manager for Operations and Healthcare Management, Bupa, said: “We know that having cancer symptoms is extremely worrying. Specialist Centres for bowel cancer offer customers peace of mind by giving them fast access to tests, so they can get the all-clear or a diagnosis within four working days of calling us. This is so important because early access to testing and a speedier treatment pathway can mean less complex and invasive surgery and drug treatment for customers and crucially improved outcomes.”

Where and when will the new centres be located?

At present, we have 13 Specialist Centres for breast cancer nationwide and three Specialist Centres for bowel cancer based in London, including our Cromwell Hospital, and plan to expand our network.

 

For further information, please speak to your Bupa account manager or intermediary partner.

¹ https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/media/#:~:text=Every%2015%20minutes%20in%20the,affect%20people%20of%20all%20ages.

² https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/bowel-cancer#:~:text=Bowel%20cancer%20mortality&text=Bowel%20cancer%20is%20the%202nd,all%20cancer%20deaths%20(2018).

³ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/mar/covid-19-backlog-half-million-endoscopies-and-rising