Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has said the Chief Medical Officer advised him to offer reassurance, but was he advised to offer repeat free smear tests to every woman in the country who wanted one? Was that the clinical advice given to the Minister? My information is that he was advised this would put additional stress on the system, that the capacity was not available and that he was repeatedly advised, month on month, to end the free smear tests because the backlog had started to build. There has been an attempt to muddy the waters with references to tests in 2015 that had expired. The focus is on the additional tests that took place from May to December last year, with 80,000 to 100,000 additional and unscheduled smear tests putting extra pressure on the system. We do not know the clinical impact of that decision and the delays. When will the backlog be cleared? When a woman presents for a smear test today - she may have high-grade or low-grade changes - her test will not be read for six months. If there is an interpretation of a smear slide that there are low-grade changes, the second part of the test - the HPV element - is necessary to decide if a colposcopy is required. The impact of a delay meant that women were not reassured, but rather there was additional panic and anxiety because of the lack of results. The six-month waiting time is an average and the wait is beyond six months for some women. As the Minister has said not all women have yet been notified, is he saying some of the 4,600 women in question are waiting for a letter? Another impact is delayed referral for a colposcopy and potentially delayed treatment. When will the backlog be cleared and has everyone in question been contacted?

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