Digital delivery of negative cervical screening results from September

The digital delivery of negative cervical screening results through the NHS App will start in September in England, government has said.

Women having a screening test should be encouraged to download the NHS App, and to check that they have notifications enabled to receive the result, said NHS England (NHSE).

Patients with abnormal results will be sent a letter from the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in the post.

Related Article: Offer self-sampling HPV kits in practice appointments to increase uptake

Anyone with a negative result who doesn’t open the NHS App notification within 72 hours will also be sent a letter by post. They will receive an app message and notification.

Advice for providers from NHSE said that can sample takers should ‘inform patients attending cervical screening that from September their results may be delivered via the NHS App’.

The NHS App is available via the Google play or App store. People can also access their NHS account by logging into the NHS website.

The ‘ping and book’ service through the NHS App was first introduced in late 2024.

In June, it was announced that younger women at low risk of getting cervical cancer would be invited to cervical screenings at five-year intervals, instead of three, as part of a ‘more personalised cervical screening’ offer in England and in a bid to increase the uptake of screening.

Patients with a cervix aged 25 to 49 who test negative for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), at very low risk of cervical cancer in the next decade, are being invited to screenings at five rather than three-year intervals.

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People whose screening sample shows HPV or with a recent history of HPV will be invited to more frequent screenings.

This system was already in place in Scotland and Wales, and for patients aged between 50 and 64 in England.

Women not presenting for screening will also be offered HPV self-sampling kits to detect cervical cancer at home, which are returned by post.

The government said that it hoped that the introduction of the HPV self-sampling kits would help tackle the barriers and stigma that may surround screening for some women.

Related Article: Government to introduce HPV self-sampling for ‘under-screened’ women

An HPV catch up immunisation campaign for young people who missed their routine vaccination at school will run from 1 September 2025 to 31 March. Practices are being encouraged to identify and invite eligible patients and offer opportunistic vaccination.