I also had this problem. When I became aware of this problem three or four months ago, I went to the Minister seeking the reversal of the CervicalCheck decision not to deal with patients who had sought private smear tests.

CervicalCheck sent letters to the public clinics stating that they should not deal with individuals who had been sent by their general practitioner to a private clinic, because the doctor was not getting the results of smear tests already and required to have the results fastracked, when the outcome was the need for the patient to go to a colposcopy clinic. When the person went to the colposcopy clinic in Cork, they were given a letter stating that because they had got the results from a private clinic they would not fall under the remit of the colposcopy clinic. They would have to have their smear done in a public clinic.

As a result of the constituent coming to me, I arranged for her GP to refer them to another clinic under the HSE. That clinic did provide care for the individual but within two weeks of providing care for them, it appears that clinic also got a letter from CervicalCheck advising them not to take people who had had their smear in a private clinic and had been issued with the results. The letters were circulated.