Cervical Smears
Information for patients aged 25 to 65 years.
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme was set up by the Department of Health in
1988. This screens over 3.5 million women in England every year. In April
2006 there were changes to the Cervical Screening Programme, which means that
women under the age of 25 are no longer screened, Women between the ages of 25 - 49
are screened three yearly and from 50 - 64, five yearly.
What is cervical screening?
Cervical screening is a method of preventing cancer by detecting abnormalities
in the cells of the cervix that, if left untreated, could lead to cancer.
Regular screening is one of the most effective ways of detecting abnormalities.
There has recently been a change in the way that we take smears and we now use a
liquid-based cytology which has a much higher accuracy rate. In the NHS at
present women can expect to receive the result of this cervical screen between 6
and 10 weeks after their appointment. Following an abnormal result a woman would
receive information regarding this and maybe recommended to have a further test
after a short interval or maybe referred for further treatment such as
colposcopy.
Current NHS Screening Programme
In the age range of 25 - 49 under the NHS women are invited for screening three
yearly and from the ages of 50 -64, five yearly. Women who have had recent
abnormalities will be called for more regularly. The age range changes that have
recently occurred are being implemented across the U.K. as a part of the
National Cervical Screening Programme. Between the ages of 25 -49 a three yearly
smear is believed to be sufficient because of the natural history of cervical
cancer. Abnormalities in the cervical cells develop over a period of time and we
should be able to prevent cancers by regular screening. We believe it takes ten
years to progress through the stages of abnormality to the development of
cancer. There may well be disadvantages to having more regular smears as this
may mean unnecessary investigations. Over the age of 50 women are now only
invited five yearly if they had not had any recent abnormalities. This is
because the chances of having a cervical cancer over the age of 50 are very
small.
If you would still like to proceed with a smear outside the NHS 3 -5 yearly
programme and have your smear done privately, we can do this for you but we
would like to reiterate that there is no evidence that it is advantageous for
you to do so. We would expect to have your result within three working days of
the smear being taken.
Ideally cervical screening should be done in or around the middle of your
menstrual cycle, with Day 1 counted as the first day of your last period. If you
have an appointment arranged and you start your period early, you should contact
us to re-arrange for a more suitable date.
Key Statistics
Cervical screening saves approximately 5,000 lives a year
The Cervical Screening Programme is directly responsible for a 42% decrease in
incidence of cervical cancer between 1988 and 1997
Cervical screening is one of the best defences against cervical cancer and can
prevent around 75%of cancer cases in women who attend regularly
Almost half of the 3,500 new cases of cervical cancer in the UK occur in women
who have never attended for screening.
Revised August 2006
