New bowel cancer course for pharmacy staff in Wales

BOWEL CANCER UK has launched a new online course about bowel cancer for community pharmacy staff in Wales, to help them feel more confident talking to patients about the disease.

Taking just one hour to complete, the charity’s free online course will help pharmacists and their teams understand the symptoms of bowel cancer, prevention advice, the importance of taking part in bowel screening, as well as facts and figures about the disease and the impact of COVID-19 on bowel cancer services in Wales.

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in Wales, with more than 900 people dying from the disease every year. However it shouldn’t be as it’s treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early. Nearly everyone survives bowel cancer if diagnosed at the earliest stage, however this drops significantly as the disease develops. Early diagnosis really does save lives.

Sian Salkeld, Wales Programme Lead at Bowel Cancer UK, says: “Community pharmacists and their teams can play a key role in helping the public take the first steps towards recognising bowel problems, so we’ve produced a free short course on bowel cancer for them in Wales. We’ve worked with community pharmacists every step of the way, from content to design and development.

“Completing the course will help pharmacy staff feel more confident talking to their customers about bowel cancer, and encouraging them to visit their GP if they’re worried about any symptoms they may be experiencing.”