The number of women undertaking cervical screening last year dropped for the fourth consecutive year, despite a slight increase in the number of eligible women invited.
The latest figures, published by NHS Digital today, found that in 2017/18 the percentage of eligible women (aged 25 to 64) that were screened adequately was 71.4%, a drop of 0.6 percentage points compared to the year before.
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The 25-29 age bracket had the poorest coverage, with 61.1% of these patients adequately screened in 2018 compared to 62.1% in the previous year.
The decline came even though a total of 4.46m women aged 25 to 64 were recorded as invited for screening, representing a 0.3 percentage point increase on 2016/17, when 4.45m women were invited.
However, the report said that it is currently unknown whether the recent scandal concerning cervical screening invitations could have impacted the results.
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Earlier this month, it was revealed that Capita – the private company contracted to provide GP back-office services – failed to send nearly 48,000 letters related to cervical screening, most of which were invitations or reminders.
NHS Digital’s report said: ‘An investigation is underway which should clarify the impact on the invitation statistics and a short update will be provided once this has been clarified.’
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The report further found:
- Coverage for women aged 25-64 was the worst in London at around 65%, falling well below the nationally acceptable standard of 80% coverage.
- There was a 4 percentage point reduction in colposcopy referrals in 2017/18 compared to 2016/17.
- In 2018, only around 60% of letters containing the results of cervical screening tests were sent out within two weeks of the sample being taken.
