§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will reduce the recommended interval for screening of women for cervical cancer from five years to three years; what would be the additional cost involved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe recommended interval for cervical cancer screening is currently under review. We will announce the outcome of that review in due course.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will reduce the period within which health authorities must instal computerised call and recall systems for cervical cancer screening from two years to one year; what would be the additional cost involved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. CurrieAll health authorities in England have reported that they plan to implement computerised call and recall systems for cervical cancer screening within the next seventeen months, that is no later than March 1988. This is an ambitious but realistic timetable. There would be severe practical difficulties, for example in staff recruitment and training, in any attempt at further acceleration of the timetable.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will issue guidance to procure the issue of the Lerner spatula within the National Health Service for cervical smear tests in place of the present Ayre spatula.
§ Mrs. CurrieWe are aware of suggestions that various spatulas, one of which is the Lerner spatula, may be more effective than the Ayre spatula for taking cervical smears. We shall he asking the independent expert committee on gynaecological cytology for their advice.