§ Ms. HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list(a) the median, (b) the longest and (c) the shortest time in each district health authority between a woman having a cervical smear for screening and when she is notified of the results.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by(a) regional health authority and (b) area health authority, the number of cervical cytology screening call-recall systems in operation; and what is the average waiting time for processing of cervical smears in each category.
753W
§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley[holding answer 23 June 1989]: All 190 district health authorities in England introduced computerised call and recall system for cervical cancer screening by April 1988. Information on laboratory processing times is not available in the form requested. In September over 75 per cent. of districts were achieving the Department's target for laboratories of returning results of smear tests to the doctor who took them within one month. We do not collect figures on processing times in these districts. The average processing time of districts failing to meet the one month target is 6.5 weeks.