Moondance Cancer Initiative, in collaboration with NHS research team Cedar and Bowel Cancer UK, are launching a project to understand how bowel cancer survival in Wales can be improved and are looking for people affected by the disease to take part.

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in Wales, but it shouldn’t be because it is 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. Evidence is gathering worldwide that, if we got everything right in bowel cancer prevention, screening, and care, we could hugely reduce the number of lives cut short by the disease.

The project is looking for people affected by bowel cancer, including family members, to complete a survey about their experience as well as ideas and thoughts on how bowel cancer care can be improved to understand if we could move towards a year in Wales with no bowel cancer deaths. This is an opportunity to have your say on the development of services in Wales and help shape and influence improvements in care across the country. The survey will close on Monday 18 April 2022.

A selection of people will then be invited to take part in follow up virtual or telephone interviews between April and July and virtual focus groups will take place later in the year.

The project team will take the information gathered from people affected by bowel cancer to a range of healthcare professionals and policymakers for their input too, before Moondance Cancer Initiative pull everything together to create a ‘roadmap’ for improving bowel cancer survival in Wales.

If you’re based in Wales and have been affected by bowel cancer, complete the survey today (closes Monday 18 April): https://cardiff.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/bowel-cancer-survey