Since the recent cervical screening scandal, women have been extra cautious when it comes to their routine pap smear.
Earlier this year, many were shocked when a cervical check audit showed that nearly half of the 206 women affected by the CervicalCheck misdiagnosis incident were not informed of the delay in their diagnosis, potentially affecting their overall lifespan.
One of these women, Vicky Phelan, has since been campaigning for an improved cervical check screening program.
In response, the government has partnered with the Irish Medical Organisation to ensure that those concerned with the accuracy of their smear results can take a repeat test as well.
This has resulted in a massive increase in the number of smear tests, doubling over the past year, according to The Irish Times. 27,200 smears were taken in July of this year while only 18,700 were reported in July 2017.
Are you up to date with your #smeartest? Regular #cervicalscreening is vital in preventing #cervicalcancer. It's free, and it's available at our three clinics. #CervicalCheck
— Dublin Well Woman (@dublinwellwoman) August 24, 2018
Research carried out by CervicalCheck has caused major concern in the wake of this misdiagnosis scandal.
Last year in July, only 27 of smear tests expired due to a backlog. Last month, this number has quadrupled to a total of 110 tests.
It takes just six weeks before a sample is no longer viable and because women are required to wait three months between pap smears this poses a major delay in diagnosis.
CervicalCheck is aware of the issue and claims it is still adjusting to the rapid increase in routine smear tests.
Upon gathering this alarming data, they began implementing a new procedure on July 30th.
All samples taken are transferred to a slide to avoid expiration, even though the results might not be read for quite some time.
These backlogs have caused up to 13 week delays for some women’s test results.
Hopefully, CervicalCheck continues to work alongside the government to improve this screening process but for now, at least they have tackled the expiration issue,
