Victoria Poole, one of the 17,000 women affected by the review into cervical smears at the Southern Health Trust, says not knowing the status of her case is adding to her distress. The Southern Trust is recalling the patients to attend for a repeat smear, which is being conducted simultaneously with the slide review. It has been reported that thousands of slides will have to be re-checked as part of this review, and a small number have revealed low-grade abnormalities, which is expected and not a concern.
Ms Poole has said there has been no direct communication from the trust since a letter last October told her she was involved in the review. The Southern Trust has said it is in direct contact with women and provides numerous channels for communication, including a dedicated liaison support service and a free phone information line. According to the trust, it prioritized cases thought to be most at risk.
Tracey Bell, 44, has also been invited to attend for a further smear test, but her request to have her smear history reviewed at the same time has been rejected. Mrs Bell has expressed her concerns that she has “lost all faith in the system,” and that most of the information in her cervical medical notes is redacted. Some information was redacted to protect the identity of the screeners who were involved in the review, said Dr Stephen Austin, the Trust’s medical director.
In December, Northern Ireland advised primary HPV screening, which tests the cervical cells for the HPV virus first and is regarded as more accurate at detecting who is at higher risk of developing cervical cancer. The new system has also helped tackle the backlog of cervical smear tests, as women now receive their results much more quickly, within a couple of weeks. However, according to the Trust, the uptake for repeat smear clinics, which began in November 2023, is disappointing, as out of 1,586 invited, only 475 women have attended so far. The Trust still anticipates that a very small number of women could be adversely affected by what has happened, according to Dr Austin, but he hopes the review will be completed and women informed by the end of June
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