Invercargill Medical Centre advocates for bowel screening
Every Wednesday, team members at the Invercargill Medical Centre proudly wear their Bowel Screening t-shirts.
“We get lots of comments on it from patients – and also from members of the public when we head out of the Centre on our lunch breaks,” laughs Clinical Nurse Lead, Toni Day.
Toni speaks highly of the Southern DHB’s “fantastic” National Bowel Screening Programme.
“It is one of the best organised and patient-focused programmes I have worked with in my 30+ year career,” she tells us.
Since the National Bowel Screening Programme was launched in the South last April, 68 of Invercargill Medical Centre’s patients have received positive bowel screening test results and been referred for a colonoscopy.
“I personally phone each patient who has a positive test result,” says Toni. “I offer them an appointment that day, or at their earliest convenience, to talk them through the next steps. The Programme’s excellent Nurse Coordinators, Genevieve Cowley and Laura Bane, are also available for them to talk to as they move through the process.”
Toni believes one of the reasons for the programme’s success is that all of the finer details were considered and worked out prior to its launch.
“This has made implementation so much simpler from our end, and means it’s a pleasure to advocate for the programme.”