§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many cervical cancer screening laboratories there are in Great Britain; what is the ratio of adult women to laboratories; what are the levels of staffing per laboratory; and how much funding each laboratory receives.
§ Mrs. CurrieIn 1986 in England there were 196 NHS laboratories. The number of women aged 20 to 64 (the eligible age group for routine screening within the computerised call and recall system) was 13.69 million, a ratio of 69,871 women to each laboratory. If they were all screened every five years, this would generate an average of 13,974 smears a year for each laboratory. On average in 1986 the number of cervical smears screened per laboratory was 18,923 and the average number of staff was 4.4*. Information on funding is not available centrally.
* Source: DHSS form SBH 140.