A grandfather has thanked NHS Lanarkshire staff after a bowel cancer screening test helped him beat the disease.

Bob White has now had successful treatment and is backing NHS Lanarkshire’s drive to ensure everyone uses their bowel screening kit.

Bob, from Kirkmuirhill, said: “I didn’t have any symptoms but the test identified that I had bowel cancer.

“It was vitally important that I used it because it caught the disease early. If I’d decided not to bother to test myself this year and just put it off, the cancer could have had a chance to spread beyond my bowel.”

Grandfather-of-two Bob, 75, who was diagnosed in April, added: “I‘ve always made a point of using my screening test even though I didn’t think anything was wrong.

“When it came back positive I was sent a second kit to double-check then I went for a hospital examination to confirm it was cancer.

“The diagnosis came out of the blue but I was put at my ease by the professionalism of the consultant and the other medical staff. It meant I was confident in their hands and knew it was a treatable condition.”

Bob had an operation at Wishaw General Hospital in July.

He said: “The nursing staff were so good during my recovery and I was very impressed by NHS Lanarkshire throughout my treatment.

“I’d been lacking energy before the diagnosis but I’d just put that down to old age. Since my operation I’ve had much more get-up-and-go and I’m back to enjoying energetic things like canoeing and going for long walks.

“I’m now a real supporter of taking the bowel cancer screening test and have been telling everyone I know in the right age group that they should be using theirs.

“The kit is very simple to use but it’s proved to be a potential life-saver for me.”