Patient advocacy group 221+ calls for quick action on expired CervicalCheck slides

CervicalCheck clinical director Nóirín Russell: 'It's really important to state that the test being positive for HPV does not mean that the woman has cervical cancer.'

The 221+ patient advocacy group has called for quick, open action to address concerns of the women impacted by the expiry of CervicalCheck slides.  

CervicalCheck samples from 180 women have expired due to a capacity issue caused by a surge in testing in the first half of this year due to the Covid-19 lockdowns. 

The programme was expected to process almost 300,000 cervical screening tests this year; however, an unprecedented 200,000 tests were carried out in the six months to June.

The HSE said it is "unfortunate" that the issue was reported in the media before the women affected could be informed.

The HSE was aware in June that high sample volumes were becoming an issue and, between late June and early July, samples which had not been processed in time for follow-up testing to take place were identified.

Follow-up testing

According to HSE modelling, around 15% of tests taken in primary care will be HPV positive and require follow-up testing for the presence of abnormal cells.

"There are going to be women who find this really stressful and it's really important to state that the test being positive for HPV does not mean that the woman has cervical cancer," said CervicalCheck clinical director Nóirín Russell.

"It means that there's a risk factor present that we have to look at the cells."

Women affected will receive a personalised letter explaining that they need to have a repeat test three months after the first test to ascertain whether they need a more detailed examination.

Letters issuing

Letters to GPs began issuing today, July 19, and letters to women issue from July 20.

Dr Russell added that social distancing measures meant "huge capacity pressures" to get through the slides before they expired.

221+ advocates, who represent women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal, say they will be addressing the ongoing concern in respect of this capacity through the CervicalCheck steering committee.

"While this is distressing for those involved, the impact will be greatly lessened if the matter is dealt with quickly and openly," a spokesman said.

"We would ask that in addition to being sent a letter, those impacted should also receive a phone call from their GP to highlight the importance of a retest.

"For today, however, the priority must be to focus on any concerns held by the women impacted."

Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane said this "obviously" should not have happened and "results should be given as quickly as possible and we have to make sure this doesn’t happen again and cause unnecessary fear".