Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Senator for raising this really important issue. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Health and I have been provided with a script which I am sure will be provided to the Senator. I am quite concerned because the situation the Senator has outlined does not tally with some of what is in here. Let me read what is in here in relation the Senator's very specific question about opt-out procedures.

What the Department has advised is that the national screening service advises that any woman may remove herself from the cervical screening register if she wishes to discontinue her participation in screening and she is not required to provide a reason. This can be done by letter, email, phone or by completing the opt-out form. That sounds different from Sarah’s experience as outlined by the Senator. I am concerned by that because the official advice is it should be possible to opt out of this. To give a little bit of background to it, the Department has been quite clear that, if a woman has had a hysterectomy, in some instances cervical screening may still be advisable. It is not that in all instances, if someone has had a hysterectomy, they should be, ought to be or may wish to be removed, and that it does come down to clinical advice that has been provided. Therefore, the national screening service will often ask a woman to confirm with her gynaecologist at the time of her hysterectomy, in particular if it has had to do with cervical cancer, if she has any residual cervical tissue. Sometimes that needs to be monitored and that is often a reason women may wish to and may get medical advice to stay on the screening register. In Sarah's case, it sounds like she has had that medical advice and that appears to have been very clear. The advice from the Department is very clear, that this should be doable.

I am happy to raise this directly with the Minister on the Senator's behalf. If she wants to follow up with additional information, I am happy to take that too. The Senator will get a copy of the full and formal response, but that is the piece I think is most relevant, and diverges from the experience outlined by the Senator on the floor of the House today.