§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has consulted the committee of gynaecological cytology, the Family Planning Association, the women's national cancer control campaign, district health authorities or the National Health Service trade unions about the interval between the taking of cervical smears and the results becoming available; and if he has any plans to consult them on this matter in the near future.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNo. I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave him on 28 November 1983 at c.416, and 7 February 1984 at c. 577. I emphasise again that the availability of the result of a cervical smear test should not in any way delay referral for further investigation of any case where a doctor suspected the presence of cervical cancer.
§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) on 31 October 1983, Official Report, Vol. 47, c. 293–4, if he will alter his policy to allow any woman the right to a cervical smear test on the National Health Service, regardless of the time requirement outlined in his answer, if she is recommended for such a test by any doctor.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIf a doctor considers that a cervical smear test is required in any particular case, this will always be undertaken irrespective of any previous test. The decision to undertake a smear in a patient with symptoms or signs of disease is a matter for the doctor's clinical judgment. The cervical screening programme to which I referred in my reply is concerned with screening symptomless women.