§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in each region were found to have been misdiagnosed as a result of the improper administration of pre-cancer smear tests in 1993.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she has taken to ensure that no further problems arise in the cervical smear testing system.
§ Mr. SackvilleThis information is not available centrally.
In 1993 there were a few isolated instances where women were recalled for further tests because of inadequacies within the screening programme. These were addressed locally. The chief medical officer has recently announced a package of initatives to strengthen quality within the programme and copies of press release 94/37 detailing these are available in the Library.