People’s Choice Award 2025 Bronze £5-£15million
Too many people are brushing aside symptoms of serious illness that if left too long could be life-threatening.
Our campaign Cut The Crap: Check For Crohn’s and Colitis urges people to stop ignoring symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, or trying to manage them without medical advice, because they are too embarrassed, scared or unconfident to talk to their GP.
The campaign calls for people who have had diarrhoea, stomach pain or blood in their poo for more than a week, even if they come and go, to spend 30 seconds filling out its online symptom checker to find out if they have a routine or urgent illness.
If they have signs of Crohn’s or Colitis, they are encouraged to see a GP, and the checker will give them a list of their symptoms and a letter to show their doctor to make discussing what is wrong less embarrassing, and help the doctor find the right diagnosis.
We have launched this campaign because earlier research showeod one in four people were taking more than a year to be diagnosed, and nearly half will end up in A&E at least once before their diagnosis.
Delaying treatment can make it much harder for people to manage Crohn’s and Colitis, and leave people with less treatment options or requiring emergency surgery to remove part of their bowel.
Since the launch of the campaign, over 250,000 people have checked their symptoms. 70% of people who are advised to see a GP report to do so within a month. A big step towards timely diagnosis.
Crohn's & Colitis UK is also working with healthcare professionals, professional bodies (such as royal colleges) and decision-makers across the country to make sure that health systems are set up to get patients diagnosed as quickly as possible.
Crohn’s and Colitis, the two main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, are lifelong conditions affecting over 500,000 people in the UK. The symptoms can be debilitating, painful and therefore life-changing. There is no known cure.
We are the leading charity for people affected by Crohn’s and Colitis. Our work with healthcare professionals helps improve diagnosis, treatment and management of the conditions.
We campaign for change which will help improve lives, and our vital research grants drive pioneering work to discover better ways of managing Crohn’s and Colitis, with the hope of one day finding a cure.
We provide easy-to-understand, expert information to people affected by Crohn’s and Colitis when they need it most through our Helpline and award-winning resources, and we work hard to bring the community together so they can support each other.
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
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