Elspeth McLean

Despite concern about the reach of the national bowel-screening programme, Bowel Cancer New Zealand says it is delighted the Southern District Health Board is joining the programme this month and...

Dear Clare, on a bad day, or even a good one, do you wish you were cleverer?

Some of the 10,000 people wrongly dropped off the invitation list for bowel screening may have been waiting to be seen for five years, the Ministry of Health says.

Last week, Health Minister David Clark went public over a glitch in the bowel screening pilot scheme which may have affected three people who went on to get cancer, one of whom has since died.

Health Minister David Clark's review of the national bowel screening programme is unlikely to address controversy over the initial screening test.

The introduction of the national bowel screening programme will take a year longer than previously planned, Health Minister  David Clark says.

The Hutt Valley and Wairarapa District Health Boards  began the National  Bowel Screening Programme last month, and Southern will follow next year.

Demand for colonoscopies could put the national bowel screening programme at risk if participants were given full test results, the National Screening Advisory Committee says.

Serious concerns about aspects of the Southern District Health Board's record-keeping practices have been raised by the country's chief archivist, Marilyn Little.