New report illustrates the state of bowel cancer care in the UK

Bowel cancer is one of the most widespread cancers in the UK – it is now the fourth most common cancer in the country, with approximately 44,000 people diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK every year.

More than nine out of ten new cases (94%) are diagnosed in people over the age of 50. But bowel cancer can affect anyone of any age, as more than 2,600 new cases are diagnosed in people under the age of 50 every year.

Receiving a bowel cancer diagnosis is already a traumatic experience without medical negligence, which can lead to complications throughout treatment and, ultimately, impact survival rates.

Medical negligence relating to bowel cancer cases is an increasingly pressing issue in 2025. More A&Es than ever are seeing patients admitted with acute late-stage symptoms, and for those aged 25 to 49, England is among the countries with the biggest rise, averaging a 3.6% increase every year from 2017.

In addition, data provided by Cancer Research UK in 2019 suggests that bowel cancer has seen a 52% increase in incidence rates for adults aged 25 to 49 since the early 1990s.

It is believed that one key factor as to why bowel cancer and late-stage diagnoses cases are on the rise is because its symptoms can be hard to recognise, leading to misdiagnoses, particularly among an increasingly strained NHS. It has a particular set of symptoms which are common in other, less serious medical conditions.

In this report, we aim to outline the current landscape relating to bowel cancer care from the NHS in the UK, including misdiagnosis, claims, and resolutions. We’ll demonstrate this using data from a Freedom of Information request which was sent to NHS Resolution in March 2025, asking for the frequency of and sum of payouts relating to Gastroenterology (the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract and related organs) claims over the 2021/2022 and 2023/2024 financial years.

Our goal is to raise awareness about this pressing national health issue to help prevent misdiagnosis or late diagnosis in the first place. With that, we interviewed Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy to highlight common symptoms and prevention actions which can help promote a healthy lifestyle.

Medical negligence claims relating to bowel cancer

A Freedom of Information Request was shared with NHS Resolution in March 2025 to gain insight into the care landscape when it comes to bowel cancer and Gastroenterology cases. The request enquired about the total number of claims relating to bowel cancer and Gastroenterology cases in the 2021/2022 and 2023/2024 financial years. The request also asked for the sum of money per each successful claim and the most common reasons for the claim.

It is worth noting that the NHS is still one of the most successful entities for treating bowel cancer and Gastroenterology diseases – if detected early, the NHS has a 90% success rate of treating bowel cancer successfully.

Between financial years 2021/22 and 2023/24, the NHS has received 168 claims where the speciality is ‘Gastroenterology’ and the ‘Primary Injury’ is one of the following: Advanced Stage Cancer, Benign Tumour, Malignant Tumour, or Cancer.

Of those 168 claims, 100 claims (60%) had a damages payout by the end of each respective financial year. The total paid across all 100 claims was in the millions, sitting at £23,677,060 for the victims of inadequate care or misdiagnosis, related to all cancer in Gastroenterology, not just bowel cancer.

In terms of regional NHS Trusts, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust settled six claims related to ‘Advanced Stage Cancer’. The total paid for these is £2,110,819 – more than any other regional Trust.

Primary causes for the claims across all 168 included:

Fail / Delay Treatment
Fail To Act on Abnormal Test Results
Fail To Follow-Up Arrangements
Failure/Delay Diagnosis
Fail To Recognise a Complication
Delay In Performing Operation
Inappropriate Discharge
Failure To Interpret X-Ray
Failure to X-Ray
Wrong Diagnosis
Fail/Delay Referring to Hospital
Fail To Act on Abnormal Test Results
Failure To Perform Tests
Fail To Interpret USS

The data shows there is a need to address the pathway from diagnosis through to the treatment of bowel cancer.

Spotting symptoms early

Following these findings, we spoke to Dr Deborah Lee of Dr Fox Online Pharmacy. After completing her Medical Degree at University of Southampton Medical School in 1986, Dr Lee trained as a GP. Having worked for the NHS for many years, mostly as Lead Clinician, Dr Deborah Lee now works as a health and medical writer.

The purpose of our interview with Dr Lee is to help people identify and recognise symptoms of bowel cancer early so they know at what point to seek medical assistance. We also wanted to understand the role that a GP plays in the process when it comes to a cancer pathway, as it seems many in the UK are unsure, have a lack of knowledge, understanding or confidence at when to seek help from their GP.

This is proven through an increased reliant on ‘Googling’ symptoms in a mission of self-diagnosis. From 30th May – 30^th June 2025 in the UK, there were 387k monthly Google searches for “bowel cancer”. This is an increase of 68% compared to this time last year (5th May – 1st June 2024), when there were 230k searches for “bowel cancer”.

Common bowel cancer symptoms had the following search volumes:

“Blood in stool” had 130k searches in the past month
“Abdominal pain” had 269k searches in the past month
“diarrhoea” had 321k searches in the past month (up 9% in the past quarter)
“Loss of appetite” had 52K searches in the past month
“Back pain” had 2 million searches in the past month
“Reflux” had 772k searches in the past month (up 6% in the past year)

Dr Deborah Lee commented on the findings: “There’s a lot of symptoms of bowel cancer, but symptoms can depend on where the cancer has arisen in the large bowel. If the cancer is in the rectum, it is more likely to cause blood in the stool and changes to your bowel habits. If it is in the colon, it is more likely to cause abdominal pain and anaemia. The most common symptoms of bowel cancer are:

Abdominal pain (63%)
A change in bowel habit (54%) – Patients experienced diarrhoea more often than constipation. Patients may notice a change in the shape of their stools – the stools may be pencil thin, for example, if there is bowel obstruction.
Rectal bleeding (53%) – Red blood may be seen in the toilet, on or mixed in with the stool or on the toilet paper. Note that black, tarry stools are due to old, altered blood. These are a feature of bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract, for example, from a stomach ulcer.
Weight loss (32%)

“But it can present itself with a variety of symptoms unusual symptoms too, so it is important to have an awareness of the following:

Diarrhoea and/or constipation – they may alternate.
Sometimes you may feel you keep needing to empty your bowels but there is nothing there – this is called tenesmus.
Abdominal distension
The presence of a lump in the abdomen
Upper gastrointestinal tract symptoms such as reflux, indigestion and pain
Back pain
Pain in the rectum
Urinary symptoms
Feeling pressure in the pelvis
Haemorrhoids (piles)
Anaemia – if bowel cancer causes anaemia it may present with pallor, breathlessness, exhaustion, a rapid heart rate and a low blood pressure.”

Dr Lee added: “There’s a number of conditions which have similar symptoms that can lead to misdiagnosis, which is why any chronic bowel condition needs proper assessment. The following are chronic inflammatory bowel conditions which cause abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, blood in the stools, diarrhoea and weight loss:

Haemorrhoids (piles). These are enlarged blood vessels around the anal margin. They often bleed especially when you have a poo and can be itchy.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Crohn’s Disease (CD)
Ulcerative Colitis (UC)
Diverticulitis”

Dr Lee concluded: “There’s several steps people can take to help reduce their risk of developing bowel cancer within their lifetime, including:

Eating less red meat and less processed meat
Eating more fibre
Losing weight
Cutting down on alcohol
Stop smoking
Do regular exercise
Do your bowel screening test.”

Our expert discusses the matter

Bowel cancer negligence specialist from Been Let Down, Kirsty Parkes, identified a correlation between the findings and a rise in medical negligence cases at the firm.

Kirsty Parkes commented: “It’s shocking to see so many young adults being impacted by this deadly disease, and it’s more important than ever to be aware of and see a doctor for the most common warning signs. Early diagnosis massively improves survival rates.

“There are over a hundred claims related to the misdiagnosis and insufficient care for cancers in the ‘Gastroenterology’ speciality. In addition, more and more A&Es across the country are seeing patients with late-stage symptoms due to never being diagnosed with colon cancer in the first place – showing this is a growing area of national concern.

“It’s important to know your rights if you, or a friend or family member was misdiagnosed and has suffered because of insufficient care for cancer. As with most medical negligence cases, there is a three-year time limit to claim for bowel cancer misdiagnosis, but there are certain exceptions.

“The amount you could receive will depend on factors such as the severity of your illness, how it has affected your life and those around you, financial impacts such as being unable to work or care for family members and future treatment required. In any case, it’s vital to speak to a specialist to find the best way to move forward, claims can be made against both the NHS and private care providers.

“The team and I have dealt with multiple cases concerning the delay in diagnosis and treatment of bowel cancer.

“We see all too often that patients are not referred for the appropriate tests (such as a faecal sample or colonoscopy) or a tumour is missed on a scan. Quite often doctors diagnose patients with Irritable Bowel Disease, but sadly it is more sinister, and a late diagnosis has meant the cancer has progressed and is uncurable.”

Our conclusion

It is evident that bowel cancer cases are on the rise. Cases where patients have been misdiagnosed, had insufficient treatment, delays or failure to treat are already costing the NHS millions in compensation payments alone.

To be able to identify the symptoms of bowel cancer early for a better prognosis, it is vital to know the symptoms. Patients who spot any symptoms outlined in the report should seek advice from a GP as soon as possible and make use of national screening programmes. There are further things you can do to reduce your risk, including a healthy, balanced diet and exercise.

If you, a friend or family member have been affected by bowel cancer, but delays in accessing doctors or treatments cause you unnecessary suffering, Been Let Down can advise on your options to make sure you get justice.

Call us on 0800 234 3234 or contact us online and a member of our legal team will call you back.

Sources and methodology

Freedom of Information request sent to NHS Resolution for data on the following:

The number of Clinical Claims and Incidents received where the Specialty is ‘Gastroenterology’ split by Trust and primary injury
The number and cost of Clinical Claims Closed (or settled) with damages paid, where the Specialty is Gastroenterology’ split by Trust (with 5 or more claims), primary injury and primary cause
The data covers financial years 2021/22 – 2023/24 in relation to the specialty: Gastroenterology

Further insight and information was also sourced from the following articles and reports to inform our own report: