Six month smear test result wait 'worrying and frustrating'

Lisa Clarke was referred for a smear test by her GP

A six-month wait for results of a cervical smear test has been described as "worrying and extremely frustrating".

Lisa Clarke from County Antrim said the system is "drastically broken".

BBC News NI can reveal that at the start of September, 7,104 women were waiting three to six months for results.

The Department of Health (DoH) said it "fully acknowledged that the backlog needs to be addressed".

Ms Clarke said she was referred for a smear test by her GP after she was treated for bleeding and other gynaecological issues.

Smear tests are a cancer screening service offered to women aged between 25 and 64. Results usually come back within 12 weeks.

Broken system

"I do my best not to think about it, but every so often it does come up and I do think about what shall I do if I need treatment and there's been a six-month gap," Lisa said.

She added her wait would suggest the "system is drastically broken" and needs "urgently fixed".

Northern Ireland is behind the rest of the UK in how it has been screening for cervical cancer as it uses an old model called cytology screening instead of the gold standard HPV screening.

The cytology-based screening programme looks for abnormalities in the cells whereas HPV screening looks for the human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer.

According to the NHS, HPV screening is a more accurate test.

The department began to introduce HPV screening at the start of the year, but until the system is fully implemented across all trusts the two systems are running in tandem.

At present, all samples tested in the new system for HPV and found to be negative go on for cytology screening.

This has added to the backlog in getting results to women.

The department said it intends to introduce HPV screening across all health trusts in "the very near future".

Women's health 'struggling'

Meanwhile, GPs in Belfast have been advised of a 20-week wait for results by the regional cytology lab. Last September the average wait was 12 weeks.

The Royal College of GPs said the wait was unacceptable.

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Dr Ursula Mason said while all waiting lists are unacceptable, women's health is "struggling and on the back foot".

The GP, whose surgery is in Carryduff, said women should be living as healthily as possible and Northern Ireland should be looking towards a women's health strategy.

"It's really important from a smear perspective that women when called for smears come forward because a screening could save your life," Dr Mason added.

Unlike the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland does not have a women's health strategy which would lead on developing and funding services.

According to the Public Health Agency (PHA), while there are delays in cervical sample reporting across all health trusts, the delays are more significant in the Southern and Belfast Trusts.

Figures obtained by BBC News NI reveal that in the Southern Trust, two in five women have been waiting at least three months, while in the Belfast Trust it is one in three women.

The DoH and PHA said it was due to a lack of specialist staff.

In a statement, DoH said it is to officially introduce HPV screening across Northern Ireland "in the very near future" and that it was an absolute priority to completely replace primary cytology screening with primary HPV screening.

Northern Ireland's deputy director of public health, Tracy Owen, urged women to keep coming forward, despite the backlog.

"We know the wait is causing a huge amount of anxiety for women and we are trying to get the new system rolled out and in place as soon as we possibly can," she added.

Aiming to reassure women, Ms Owen explained that those waiting a very long time will most likely have had a negative HPV result and because they are not a priority their result has still to reach them.

Cell changes

In Northern Ireland, screening is offered to all women aged 25-64, looking for abnormal changes in the cells that line the cervix.

These abnormal changes may go on to develop into cancer if left untreated.

However, in some cases, the body's immune system will return the cell to normal by themselves, rendering them harmless.

The latest scientific evidence shows that screening for HPV is better than screening for abnormal cytology with a smear test.

This means it is better at detecting cell changes overall, as well as detecting them earlier.

Lisa Clarke said she knows she is not alone - within her yoga studio several women have been waiting at least five months for results which she said "isn't good enough".

The department said it "strongly urged women to keep coming forward for their cervical screening when invited - cervical screening continues to save lives in NI".

The PHA said early detection and treatment can prevent eight out of 10 cases of cervical cancer.