Bowel screening’s Dr Susan Parry awarded ONZM for services to gastroenterology

Dr Susan Parry is a gastroenterologist and clinical lead of the National Bowel Screening Programme (NBSP) and has been instrumental in the roll out of bowel screening in New Zealand. She was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to gastroenterology in the 2025 King’s Birthday honours.

Dr Parry’s career as a gastroenterologist began in Auckland and has taken her across the world – all while raising three children.

She came to New Zealand from the UK with her family when she was 11. “My father was a metallurgist, and we initially went to Greymouth, where he taught science. After five years, we moved to Auckland.”

Susan says she always wanted to be a doctor, even though people tried to talk her out of it – warning that medicine could be a hard path for a woman.

“My father told me that no one would want to marry me – ‘It’s not like Dr Kildare Susan’!”

But she persevered and was accepted to Auckland Medical School. “I also considered being a biochemist but realised that I really loved working directly with people, and the only way I could combine my interest in science and people was medicine.”

Her father’s warning proved unfounded, and Susan met her husband Bryan in 1982. Prof Bryan Parry ONZM, has a long and distinguished career as a colorectal surgeon, including as head of department of surgery at Auckland Hospital.

After her medical training, Susan worked at the Royal Free Hospital in London, and it was there that their son Stephen was born, joining brother Matthew. After that, it was off to Dunedin for five years where their third child Sarah was born.

“I think a lot of people don’t realise that, for much of my career, I have worked part-time, while also bringing up a young family. Gastroenterology is a specialty where you can potentially work part time – unless you’re on week and evening call – as clinics and endoscopy lists are scheduled sessions. This is compatible with being a mum – however, the juggle is a real and a constant challenge to get it right!”

From Dunedin, the family moved to Singapore for three years, and Susan’s interest in bowel cancer screening stems from this time.

“Bryan was helping set up a colorectal unit, the children were young, and I was looking for a part- time role, so I got involved in setting up a colorectal cancer screening clinic. I also started to work with people who had a family history of bowel cancer – and that’s where is all started.”

In 1994 they returned to Auckland where Susan worked as a consultant at Middlemore Hospital from 1994 to 2012, including as clinical head of the gastroenterology department for almost five years.

When she was at Middlemore Hospital in 1997 she was asked by the National Health Committee – having been recommended by the New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology – to chair a working party to review the evidence for a bowel screening programme in New Zealand.

“The enormity of the task meant I was somewhat reluctant initially!”

She says the group decided against recommending a population screening programme at that time for a variety of reasons, including limitations of the test and lack of colonoscopy surveillance guidelines for people at increased risk of developing bowel cancer. She subsequently chaired the committee that developed those guidelines and recommended a familial bowel cancer registry.

Then in 2006 the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) became available. “It replaced the old messy guaiac test. FIT is a much higher quality, more reliable test and only one sample is required.”

The Ministry of Health’s National Screening Unit then convened a second working party on population screening, which Susan also chaired, and this time a bowel cancer screening pilot was supported.

“The pilot, in Waitematā, began in 2011. Although I was still working part-time as a consultant at Middlemore, I progressively increased my hours and took on the role of the national clinical lead for the pilot, working for the Ministry.” At the same time she was involved in the development of the NZ Familial Gastrointestinal Registry (now Service), which began in 2009, becoming national medical lead.

Susan says from there she stepped away from frontline clinical work to focus on familial bowel cancer and bowel cancer screening.

“As a gastroenterologist you can diagnose bowel cancer at colonoscopy, but of course by then it is often advanced, and we were failing. I had to move into the screening area where there was the potential to prevent the cancer or find it early.”

Susan was instrumental in setting up the National Bowel Screening Programme, which is free for people aged 60 to 74. As of June 2025, the programme had sent out over 2,420,000 bowel screening kits, resulting in over 40,680 colonoscopies being performed, and nearly 2900 cancers detected. At least 40% of these cancers are being found at an early stage when they can often be successfully treated.

Through her chairing of the National Health Committee on Population Screening and her work in the National Screening Unit, Susan has led a focused effort to improve colonoscopy services and ensure the system was better prepared for screening.

In a career with many highlights, Susan says stand-outs include the privilege of having leadership roles – including at the gastroenterology department at Counties Manukau and being involved in the college gastroenterology training scheme; the establishment of, and her ongoing involvement in, the New Zealand Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Service; being a past chair and life member of the International Society of Hereditary Gastrointestinal Tumours; and being the first female to be elected President of the New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology.

“And of course being involved in bowel cancer screening in New Zealand from whoa to go, and seeing the impact for individuals and their families of diagnosing early stage cancer and saving lives.

“I’ve been able to do all this because of the wonderful support from my husband and family – I now have five grandchildren ranging in age from 20 to 2! And because of the support from my colleagues here at the National Bowel Screening Programme, the sector more broadly, and internationally.”

And there is still work to do.

“My driving passion is to get equitable participation in the bowel screening programme, and to extend the age range of the programme so it is accessible to a broader range of people. Because it’s about saving lives and we are definitely doing that!