Dr. Lorraine Doherty:

At that stage, the clinics were focusing on trying to clear their waiting lists, which comprised a mixture of public and private patients. As my colleague Dr. McKenna has highlighted, the impact of such a sheer volume of patients being referred to colposcopy clinics has put intense pressure on the clinics. Attempts are being made to alleviate the pressure on them. Of course, women who have a clinical need for a colposcopy can be referred to a public clinic.