Dr. Gabriel Scally:

The Deputy is absolutely right. She read the intention of the table very well, namely, that there are significant differences between the two. That is one of the issues we will be examining in the areas of contracting and tendering. Although we have been told by the laboratories that, at some point, it was recognised by CervicalCheck that CAP accreditation was accepted, we have not seen any documentary evidence of this. We are still hunting for it.

The table on page 60 referred to by the Deputy lays out some of the differences. We hope to carry out a much more detailed analysis of the two systems to find out what the differences are. One interesting point is that the CAP's training arm also covers the area of ISO accreditation. Some of the laboratories are seeking ISO accreditation.