Thousands of women in Northern Ireland’s Southern Health Trust have expressed their fear and dissatisfaction with the handling of a major review of cervical screening, prompting calls for more transparency and action. The patients, numbering around 17,500, will have their previous cervical smears rechecked as part of a critical screening review dating back to 2008, operationalisation of which has not yet begun. Some patients will need to be retested via new smear tests, as detailed in letters sent to those affected earlier this month by the trust.
Among them were individuals such as Heather Thompson and Brenda Redpath, who have expressed public outrage since the review announcement emerged. Women have described their reaction to the news as “angry, frustrated and scared”, with some such as Heather, who has had three smears since 2009, questioning both the credibility and accountability of the Southern Trust. Both Heather and Brenda have lobbied for the trust to do more to answer patients’ questions and provide clarity, stressing a need for new smear tests to be available to all affected patients.
In response, the Trust issued a statement explaining that it was reviewing cases to confirm their status as precautionary measures, with cytology testing enabled to detect potential precancerous changes in the cervix. Of the cases that raise potential concerns, the Trust said women would be invited to receive a new smear test or further assessment and diagnosis. However, Heather argues this blanket statement is not reassuring, and highlights instead that some women are likely to receive unfavourable results that could impact them for life. The Northern Ireland cervical screening process has got just two staff members analyzing slides under a microscope due to the lack of staff availability.
In February 2022, a sharp criticism of the system emerged when a woman who had missed three abnormal smears was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The government has also come under criticism, with Doug Beattie, an Ulster Unionist assembly member, writing to the Department of Health’s permanent secretary to find out why all of the 17,500 women can’t be retested again. He said that “when they get it wrong, we need to find out why it happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
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