‘CervicalCheck must be funded properly’

Vicky Phelan urges Health Minister to take action

VICKY Phelan has demanded Simon Harris pump more money into CervicalCheck.

The cancer campaigner said the Health Minister’s offer last year to give women a free second smear test was right but should have been better resourced.

And women who are in remission from cancer but have to be screened every six months need to be prioritised, she said.

She was speaking as there are now delays of up to at least 20 weeks for smear results.

The increased demand following last year’s screening scandal has led to a backlog of about 80,000 tests.

Ms Phelan, who sued after learning she had developed cancer after her smear tests were incorrectly reported as being clear, said: ‘The backlog is a Campaigner: Vicky Phelan short-term thing but it has to be resourced and women in remission need to be prioritised.

‘Everybody knew the current level of delay with smear tests was coming up, especially the minister.

‘His promise last April was a very good one but it should have been much better resourced.

‘And I would call on him to hurry up and sort out the issue with resources.

‘He and those responsible should just get on with it.’

Ms Phelan, one of at least 221 women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal, said that if females waiting a long time for results have no obvious symptoms, they should have little or nothing to worry about.

‘I appreciate some might [think] it is easy for me to say this but unless you have the symptoms, you have little to worry about,’ she said.

‘The main ones are bleeding between periods and persistent lower back pain.

‘If you have those, you should go and see your GP as soon as possible.’

A woman called Elaine from Co. Donegal told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland she has been waiting five months for the results of a smear test.

She has abnormalities in her cervical cells and needs an operation, but it cannot take place until doctors treating her see the results of her latest smear test. ‘It is very frustrating,’ she said yesterday, adding that nobody has been in touch with her to tell her when her results will be ready. She said: ‘Some women are having smear tests every six months because of abnormalities. They are living every day with the worry that something is wrong.

‘The whole country is waiting. Here I am in January and I still have no results. I know I am not alone in this but I also know it is not right.’

The Department of Health last night said ‘significant additional funding’ has been allocated to the screening service in 2019.

But it admitted: ‘The core challenge in relation to smear test turnaround times is availability of laboratory capacity.’

It also said: ‘The HSE has been working actively with the labs to manage this and to improve turnaround times.’