Increase in cervical screening

The scale of the increase prompted the first rise in the programme’s coverage since 2002, with the percentage of eligible women who had been screened in the previous five years rising from 78.6% at 31 March 2008 to 78.9% at 31 March 2009. The increase in screening was more prominent among younger age groups with coverage among 25 to 49-year-olds who had undergone screening in the previous three to three-and-a-half years increasing from 69.3% at 31 March 2008 to 72.5% at 31 March 2009.

Chief executive of The NHS Information Centre, Tim Straughan said: “This is a welcome boost in numbers which follows media personality Jade Goody’s highly publicised battle with the disease. It means more women are now up-to-date with their cervical screening test than last year, the first rise since 2002. Pleasingly our report also shows that women are getting their test results quicker than they did previously.”

A full copy of the report can be viewed at http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/cervscreen0809