Testimonials
Working with the local and wider community is central to everything we do. We need the support of friends near and far to raise funds that pay for the services, equipment and research projects that are going to improve bowel cancer survival. Our community of patients and their families, supporters, and medical professionals also feed into our decisions about how we can allocate our funds most effectively, so what they think and say about GUTS is important to us.
Equipment & Facilities
WHAT WE DO:
We fund equipment and facilities to support better diagnosis, care and treatment for bowel cancer patients at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust in Guildford. Generally these will be things that can be defined as over and above what might considered as standard for NHS hospitals, and have included equipping an entire endoscopy suite, part-funding a Papillon radiotherapy machine, and part-funding a training facility for colonoscopy.
WHAT THEY SAY:
“ On an appointment recently was very impressed with what RSCH – with your support – had done with the endoscopy unit (including very good staff – partly inspired by the professional surroundings?). Thank you for your efforts!”
Andy Harris
“This equipment [for colonoscopy training] will allow training of surgeons and nurses in the latest techniques in the care of colorectal cancer patients. GUTS will be playing a major role in ensuring that the surgeons and nurses of the future – and indeed those of the present – are trained to deliver the highest quality of care to patients.”
Iain Jourdan FRCS, colorectal surgeon and GUTS Chairman
Delegates learning surgical techniques via live transmissions from the operating theatre.
Simulation equipment for colonoscopy training
The control hub enables changes of camera angles and interaction with surgeons as they work.
Bowel Cancer Screening
WHAT WE DO:
The GUTS Colon Cancer Family Clinic provides regular screening for families and individuals that are at greater risk of developing bowel cancer because of their family history. While the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme offers screening for those aged 60 -74 (when age related bowel cancer is most likely to present), inherited traits such as Lynch Syndrome can lead to bowel cancer developing at a much younger age. When someone is referred to our clinic they are initially asked how bowel cancer has affected their close relatives. From there, our experts will assess individual risk and may refer for genetic testing and counselling and/or regular screening and follow-up.
WHAT THEY SAY:
“I was extremely relieved when GUTS offered me the colonoscopy at short notice as having experienced bowel cancer within the family I was worried that I may have had cancer too. Having to wait months would have been very worrying, I am extremely grateful to GUTS for all their help.”
Madeleine, CCFC patient
Supporting Research
WHAT WE DO:
Over the past 35 years GUTS has been involved in numerous research projects concerned with bowel cancer care, treatment, prevention and early detection. The charity has NIHR partner status. The NIHR (National Institute of Health Research) is the research arm of the NHS; it ensures research is not duplicated, it encourages collaboration between researchers and it provides funding – in fact it’s the largest funding body for clinical research in Europe. Partnership status ensures we only fund research that meets NIHR criteria and it gives those research projects the potential to tap into central funding if they need to.
WHAT THEY SAY:
In 2019, GUTS provided a grant for the POCFIT Study, run by Will Maclean. The project was designed to test the accuracy of a point of care device that detects microscopic amounts of blood in the stool (Faecal Immunochemical Testing – FIT). Such tests are available on large laboratory machines and are highly sensitive to “rule out” bowel cancer. A negative result can act as a far less invasive and simpler investigation than a colonoscopy. Indeed, with COVID-19 affecting our ability to perform colonoscopy, this type of investigation has become invaluable more than ever of late and ongoing use is set to continue. However, the laboratory test can take a few days to receive the result and this project is designed to assess if the latest portable machine can match up to the accuracy of the bigger processors. With its easy and hygienic stool collection device, a patient could bring a sample to general practice or clinic appointment and a result be available within 2 minutes!
To date, over 600 patients have been recruited from our suspected cancer clinics. These results are being compared to clinical outcomes of colonoscopy to assess the accuracy of the machine and ensure that no colorectal cancers would have otherwise been missed.
Read more about this research project.
“This research has received generous sponsorship from GUTS and the research team involved are most grateful to their support, as well as all the kind patients enrolled who brought their samples to clinic for analysis.”
Will Maclean, researcher
Bolt Round the Holt
WHAT WE DO:
Bolt Round the Holt has been one of our flagship annual fundraising events since the first run 2011. It attracts runners from across the south of England and offers 5k, 10k and 21k distances through lovely woodland trails at Alice Holt Forest near Farnham.
WHAT THEY SAY: