Cervical screening, also known as a smear test, is a preventative health test for women and people with a cervix. It aims to detect abnormal cell changes in the cervix, which could potentially develop into cervical cancer, before they become cancerous. Regular screening can significantly reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer.
All those eligible for screening – women and people with a cervix aged 25-64 – need to respond to their cervical screening invitations and to book an appointment at their GP practice.
Cervical Screening or Smear Tests as many of us refer to them as are one of the best ways for all women and people with cervix to protect themselves against cervical cancer. Cervical Screening (a smear test) is a procedure that checks the health of your cervix. The procedure is carried out by our trained, experienced Practice Nurse. Cervical Screening is NOT a test for cancer, it is a test to help prevent cancer by detecting any changes to the cells of the cervix.
All women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 64 years of age are eligible for cervical screening.
If you have received an invitation for cervical screening call the surgery to speak with one of our Medical Receptionists who will help you to book an appointment with one of Practice Nurses.
At the moment in England women and people with a cervix aged 25-49 years are routinely invited for screening every 3 years. As there is now better testing for HPV, in the UK the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) has recommended that those testing negative with no recent history of HPV will now be invited every 5 years instead of 3 years.
All invites will now be sent via the NHS APP – so please ensure you are signed up!!! Letters will be sent for those where digital invite is not an option.
If you would like to know more about cervical screening including a brief video on how cervical screening is done please CLICK HERE.
Below is a great video about cervical screening aimed at patients with learning disabilities and autism. Please have a look:
If you have any worries or concerns or questions about cervical screening and would like to discuss the procedure with one of our practice nurses to help put your mind at ease please let us know and we can book a telephone consultation for you.