Question reference: S5W-00717
- Date lodged: 13 June 2016
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Current status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 June 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the "downward trend" in the take up of cervical screening that was reported in its news release of 6 June 2016, Women urged to go for smear test.
Answer
We fully support the objective of increasing uptake in the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme and work has been taking place to help address the fall in cervical screening uptake rates.
Scottish Government officials meet cervical screening coordinators from all NHS boards on a quarterly basis to discuss a range of issues relating to the national screening programme, including increasing uptake of screening. NHS boards have responsibility for publicising screening within their local area and for working closely with their communities to increase screening uptake. Work of this nature is continually taking place within NHS boards. Recent local initiatives have included development of a toolkit which allows GP practices to benchmark their current practice and develop action plans to improve their uptake and an ongoing pharmacy prescription bag pilot which involves pharmacists targeting key cervical cancer screening promotional messages to those eligible to participate.
Following recent changes to the eligible age range and frequency of screening in the cervical screening programme an awareness raising campaign will soon be launched, this will aim to highlight to all women the importance of attending cervical screening and to address some of the barriers which prevent women attending. Furthermore, our on-going ‘Detect Cancer Early’ social marketing campaigns aim to raise awareness and encourage participation in the national cancer screening programmes.