Dr. Lorraine Doherty:

No, that is not the case. If a woman has a smear taken privately and the result comes back to her GP, the GP can make a referral to a public colposcopy clinic on the basis of that result and based on clinical assessment and need. Patients should be seen on the basis of clinical need. The point I was trying to make earlier was that a woman who had a smear taken privately was not part of the cervical screening programme for that smear because we did not have those results, or we were not involved in her pathway of care.