Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of women over the age of 50 being diagnosed with advanced stage cervical cancer.

Early diagnosis of cancer is a major priority for this Government in helping us to improve cancer survival.

The NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England offers screening to women aged 50 to 64 every five years to help detect and treat any cervical abnormalities at an early stage. Public Health England continues to work with NHS England to develop a system of performance improvement to increase screening coverage amongst all eligible age groups, particularly in disadvantaged communities. We fully support efforts to warn women aged 50 to 64 about the risks of missing their appointments, as it is important that women above vaccination age realise that cervical screening is the best way to prevent cervical cancer.

In April 2012 the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) gave its support for a pilot to assess the value of using human papilloma virus (HPV) testing as primary screening for cervical disease, rather than the currently used cytology test. The pilot is establishing the feasibility of using HPV as the primary screen for cervical disease in order to achieve better outcomes for women, while minimising over-treatment and anxiety, and whether it is practical to roll out nationally. The UK NSC will open a public consultation shortly on whether HPV as primary screening for cervical disease should replace the currently used cytology test.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is in the process of updating the “Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer” (2005) to ensure that it reflects latest evidence and can continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients with the symptoms of suspected cancer, including gynaecological cancers and urgently refer them as appropriate. Women under 25 who are concerned about their risk of developing cervical cancer should contact their GP.

A cervical screening test is primarily used for screening purposes, and is unlikely to be appropriate when a woman has gynaecological issues that are symptomatic of cancer.

When a woman is experiencing gynaecological problems which are symptomatic of gynaecological cancer, their GP would be expected to refer them to the appropriate specialist without needing to conduct a screening test.