Dr. Lorraine Doherty:

I assume the waiting list mentioned is the waiting time for results. All women have equitable access to the screening programme. They will be called in turn when it is their turn to be screened; that has not changed. In one particular laboratory we have a backlog of smears which have not yet been read. Changes were made to the screening programme some years ago where we introduced what is called HPV reflex testing, where some smears were tested with a HPV test. We are also aware, from previous experience in the system, that HPV testing can expire. We have to make sure that does not happen. Within the backlog we are prioritising the smears that are in danger of going out of date and applying the HPV test to them in an effort to manage risk. As was correctly pointed out there is a waiting time, and there is a risk that the smears will be out of date and cannot be read. Where a woman is HPV positive, namely, at higher risk, she is immediately prioritised for her cytology test. That is already in place to manage risk. We have also prioritised women who have having interventions such as colposcopy because they are also deemed to be at higher risk. We have adopted a risk-based approach to managing that backlog. However, we are as anxious as everyone else to find a solution to that backlog, and to put a provider and staff in place to deliver the results in a more timely way. Efforts continue to try to achieve that.