At nib, our mission is to support your clients, our members to achieve better health and wellbeing. As their health partner, we want to encourage our members to take a proactive approach to their own wellbeing.
As a fairly fit and active 59-year-old, nib member, Maureen Agnew has always been proactive with her health screenings. She undertook regular mammograms, smear tests, and skin checks. With a strong family history of heart disease, she also made sure to have heart health checks with CT calcium score tests.
After being an nib member for over a decade, Maureen received an email from nib in 2022 asking if she’d like to take part in a free Bowel Screening Programme, and she was happy to join and do the at home test.
“I was aware that I didn’t qualify for the National Bowel Screening Programme until the age of 60 and even though I had no family history of bowel cancer and seemingly no symptoms I took nib up on the offer” says Maureen.
A couple of days later she received a phone call informing her that she’d returned a positive result and it was recommended that she book herself in for a colonoscopy as soon as possible. This led to her bowel cancer diagnosis and although she’s since embarked on numerous scans (CT, MRI, PET CT) and treatments, she remains optimistic and grateful for the screening.
“Had nib not offered me a free Bowel Screening, I would have just waited to become eligible for the National Bowel Screening Programme when I turned 60 later in the year. Scarily, my specialists have said that if I had waited until I was eligible, I would not have made it to my 60th birthday!” she adds.
Eight months into her cancer journey, Maureen feels incredibly lucky to have been covered by her nib health insurance. nib’s Bowel Screening Programme helped to catch her cancer, so she could get the nib covered treatment she needed.
This testimonial reflects the experience of this nib member. It has been edited in length to be used on different media platforms.