The effectiveness of a rapid-access flexible sigmoidoscopy clinic in a district hospital.

Historically rapid-access colorectal clinics have had high proportions of nonconforming referrals from primary care physicians, which calls into question the clinics' efficacy. We aim to determine the effectiveness of our rapid-access flexible sigmoidoscopy clinic, and the adherence to the referral guidelines for suspected bowel cancer by general practitioners. We performed a 3-month retrospective audit to evaluate (1) the proportion of patients seen within 2 weeks, (2) the appropriateness of referrals, (3) the proportion of patients with findings, and (4) the proportion of patients who had further tests.