Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The conversations GPs had with concerned women were quite complex. The advice was given on the basis of the woman's history and her risk profile. Some women are at higher risk than others and some will have had several smears in the past that assured one of the accuracy of their latest smears. They were difficult consultations and if a woman was very uncertain or worried, she would have been given the smear.

However, many women just required reassurance that the cervical screening programme was a very effective programme, that it was working properly, and that the issue was around audit and non-disclosure rather than any deficiency in the system, but many women did not understand that it was a screening test rather than a diagnostic test. They expected that the screening test would be definitive, but no screening test is definitive. It is a population programme, so it benefits the population. When it comes to the individual, there will be some individuals who will not be picked up by screening. That is the issue in all screening. It was a very complex consultation, and in my experience, if the woman was very worried, she proceeded to a smear test, but if she was reassured within the consultation that the programme was working effectively, she did not proceed to a smear test.