§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the introduction of the new liquid-based cytology method of cervical cancer screening to have been completed in each of the strategic health authority regions, broken down by expected introduction date. [165912]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 19 April 2004]: We expect full implementation of liquid based cytology (LBC) to take up to five years, due to the retraining of all laboratory staff who read cervical screening tests and all sample takers in primary care. We provided £1.2 million in 2003–04 and are providing a further £6 million in 2004–05 to kick-start this process. The intention is that cytology training schools should be converted first in order to be in a position to train the rest of the programme. Strategic health authorities have been issued with advice on how best they can roll out LBC for their local populations, laboratories and primary care, and are developing plans accordingly. A national timetable of conversion over the next five years will become apparent as these plans progress.