Watch Video: New Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital gastroenterology unit to be ready for start of national bowel-screening rollout

Work is progressing well on the new $13 million gastroenterology unit being built at Hawke's Bay Hospital, and it is on schedule to be open by October in time for the local rollout of the national bowel-screening programme.

As of this week most of the structural work, including large, steel earthquake-strengthening shock absorbers, was in place in the facility that had presented some design and engineering challenges, DHB capital projects manager Trent Fairey said.

"This is the most complex build in Hawke's Bay at the moment due to the structural framework and specialist nature of the facility.

"A lot of lessons were learned from the earthquakes in Christchurch and Kaikoura. A 2018 building is now very different to what a 2012 one was."

Once operational in October, the building would bring all gastroenterology services under one roof rather than being spread throughout the hospital complex, which would improve conditions for patients and staff, Fairey said.

"There will be three procedure rooms, recovery areas, waiting rooms, and an isolation room for infectious patients.

"The footplate is three to four times bigger than what we have currently and it will be a fully air-conditioned, controlled environment."

Those facilities would be situated on the ground floor, and the second floor would be used by staff. An overbridge would connect to the theatre block.

Provider services executive director Sharon Mason said there had been significant engagement with consumers when designing the building, which had been important.

"Individuals told us about problems they had had in the past that they wanted to see improved - it's about creating a community focused environment that works for people."

Clinical leader of gastroenterology Dr Malcolm Arnold said New Zealand had one of the highest incidences of bowel cancer in the world, affecting one in 18 males and one in 21 females by the age of 75.

It was the second-highest cancer in Hawke's Bay followed by lung cancer for men and breast cancer for women.

"We have much worse survival rates than most OECD countries, possibly because we have not had a screening programme. We have not been preventative enough."

As such, the national bowel-screening programme could improve outcomes for people who, if aged between 60 and 74 years old, would be eligible to take a free test to help detect bowel cancer early, when it could be more successfully treated.

Dr Arnold said 70 per cent of people who might test positively and went on to have a colonoscopy would have polyps, seven per cent of positive tests would likely indicate bowel cancer.

He stressed that anyone who had symptoms should see a family doctor, as should those with a family history of bowel cancer.

People who had already had colon cancer or had polyps in the past would be on a monitoring programme.

Although bowel cancer was less common among Māori and Pacific people, the outcomes were worse because of cultural issues such as delaying going to a doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

"We want people who are at risk of a bad outcome to be brought forward more readily."

He said contributing factors to bowel cancer were genetic as well as obesity, smoking, eating a diet high in processed foods and low in green, leafy vegetables as well as sedentary lifestyles.

After the new facility was built, work would begin on the $12 million refurbishment of the hospital's operating theatre, which would provide increased surgical capacity from 2019.