Drop-in clinics to help cut cervical cancer risk
Drop-in sessions to held over the next three months in county
THOUSANDS MISS TEST
DROP-IN clinics are being held in GP practices across Leicestershire and Rutland to encourage more women to have their cervical screening.
Doctors said thousands of women are putting their lives at risk by not taking up the offer of a smear test.
The latest figures reveal that during 2018/19 more than 75,000 women in the two counties failed to attend their smear test, missing the opportunity to prevent cervical cancer from developing.
The first set of dates for the drop-in clinics will be with Cervical Cancer Prevention
Week, which runs from January 20 to 26.
Women – or anyone with a cervix – who is due, or overdue, for their test is invited to attend a drop-in clinic, where they can have the test done without needing to make an appointment.
Dr Paul Danaher, Leicester GP and clinical lead for cancer with Leicester City clinical commissioning group,
said: “We want to make it really easy for women to have their screening test.
“The drop-in clinics will be held at GP practices over the next three months.
“Many of them will take place on Saturdays and women can come along at a time that suits them.
“To encourage more people to participate, there will be a £100 prize draw for those who have their screening done at each of these clinics.
“The screening test is quick and simple. A nurse takes a sample of cells from the cervix with a small brush.
“They send the sample to a laboratory to be checked for abnormalities. This makes sure abnormal cells are spotted before they develop into cancer, which means they are easier to treat.”
Cervical cancer affects about 3,000 women in the UK every year and is the most common form of cancer for women under the age of 35.
According to
Jo’s Cervical Cancer
Trust, 75 per cent of those cases could be prevented through testing.
However, cervical screening is at a 20-year low, with one in four women in the UK not attending their test.
Although there has been a slight increase in uptake locally in the past year, the figures are still below the national target, which is that 80 per cent of women who are eligible should be having cervical screening.
Dr Danaher said: “During the very early stages, there are often not any symptoms and the best way for it to be detected is through screening.
“Prevention is the key to improving survival rates and cervical screening will save lives.
“Women aged 25 to 49 are invited for cervical screening every three years.
“After that, women are invited every five years until the age of 64.
“It’s important to be screened, even if you are not sexually active.
“If anyone thinks that they are overdue for a screening test, it’s important to contact their GP practice.
“They can either make an appointment to have the test done, or they can attend a drop-in clinic if that is more convenient.”
The first eight drop-in clinics have already been arranged in Leicester, with more to follow across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Neighbouring GP practices are working together in groups, which means that patients may attend any of the clinics that cover their area, Dr Danaher said.
Further details can be found at: