Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 December 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Independent Expert Panel Review into Cervical Screening: Discussion

Mr. Damien McCallion:

Quality assurance will try to identify that in regard to the overall programme in terms of laboratories, not only at laboratory level but at individual screener level in terms of improvement, learning and education. That is part of any good screening programme. The original audit was constructed to examined education and learning opportunities also. In regard to the expert group that we have set up around interval cancers, that is one of the aspects on which it will come back with recommendations. That will be incorporated into the recommendations for implementation going forward. There are a series of steps that are examining quality at a much lower level, including, as I said, at individual screener laboratory in the Coombe and in Quest, which are the two current providers.