§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the number of general practitioners in Scotland in each of the last 10 years who offer cervical cytology as part of their general medical service;
364W(2) what has been the total number of cervical smear examinations carried out in Scotland in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe numbers of cervical smear examinations carried out in Scotland from 1974 to 1983 are shown in the following table. No information is held centrally as to the number of general practitioners who offer cervical cytology but the table gives some indication of the proportion of smears taken by them.
Source of Referral Year Number of smears examined Percentage of smears for which source has been recorded Percentage of these smears sent by GPs 1974 248,610 — — 1975 253,461 — — 1976 235,582 86.5 26.9 1977 239,572 85.5 27.0 1978 253,270 85.0 31.0 1979 252,896 81.7 33.7 1980 282,510 91.6 33.7 1981 293,870 68.1 37.3 1982 285,105 77.0 39.9 1983 315,044 68.3 42.2 The laboratory returns do not differentiate between smears taken for screening as opposed to diagnostic purposes and not all laboratories record the source of referral.