CervicalCheck announcement welcome but more certainty needed for other screening services
Labour Party Leader Alan Kelly TD has welcomed the announcement that CervicalCheck screening will resume in July but has said we need to see dates for other screening programmes to be resumed.
Deputy Kelly said:
“I welcome the announcement that CervicalCheck screening will resume for priority cases on the 6th of July.
“The announcement today by the HSE will put many young women at ease.
“We need to see specific timelines for when non-priority cases can hope to be seen and what the plan is for the latter half of the year.
“We know that there will be a backlog until at least October, the HSE and CervicalCheck must ensure that women are communicated with clearly during this time in order to take away some of the stress they may be under because of the delays.
“The uncertainty that women have faced in the last few months about the future of CervicalCheck screening has caused a lot of worry and stress.
“Finally we will now see a move towards HPV testing as part of the CervicalCheck screening, something we have been waiting for action on since the summer of 2018.
“While it is reassuring that CervicalCheck screening will resume, we still need to see a timetable for when Breastcheck and Bowel screening will also resume.
“We now have so much certainty about when other parts of our lives will go back to some kind of normal, we need the same certainty for all screening services.”