HSE refuses to reveal cost of outsourcing smear tests to US
Before Christmas, the HSE launched an EU-wide procurement exercise to source additional laboratory capacity to tackle the major backlog in processing cervical smear tests. It then secured the services of a laboratory in America, saying it was entitled to do so on the basis of ‘urgent medical need’.
It expects to send 25,000 to 30,000 smears from across Ireland to the US laboratory, to clear backlog nationally.