Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of offering smear tests to patients who request them following a GP or nurse's approval.
NHS screening programmes offer tests to people who appear healthy or who are symptom-free in order to assess a person’s risk of developing a certain disease or to detect disease at an earlier, more easily treatable stage. The offer of cervical screening is to determine an individual’s risk of developing cancer and is not a test for cancer. Therefore, it is not appropriate for general practitioners (GPs) or nurses to refer individuals with symptoms to the NHS Cervical Screening Programme.
Women with symptoms should consult their GP who can advise on further diagnostic testing. The Department has published guidance for GPs on the management of young women presenting with symptoms, which is available at the following link:
http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/cervical/publications/doh-guidelines-young-women.pdf