Manchester-based social marketing and behaviour change consultancy The Hub has been tasked with developing a campaign to increase the number 60–74 year olds who utilise the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Service across South Yorkshire. 

The consultancy was selected by the five South Yorkshire PCT partners following a competitive tender process. With an outstanding track record of previous behaviour change projects and an incisive outline methodology including research and evaluation, The Hub beat off stiff competition.

With colorectal cancer being one of the most common forms of cancer in the UK, the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening programme provides a vital service that can help detect bowel cancer at an earlier stage, when treatment is more likely to be effective.

Screening can reduce the risk of bowel cancer developing by detecting and removing polyps in the bowel, while regular screening has been shown to reduce colorectal cancer mortality by 16 per cent.

The Hub has already mapped screening uptake across South Yorkshire to determine areas of focus and will begin undertaking an intensive insight-gathering phase over the coming weeks to establish a sound evidence base for the subsequent intervention development.