Cervical cancer: 17,500 women to have smear tests re-checked

About 17,500 women in Northern Ireland are to have their smear tests re-checked as part of a major review of cervical screening dating back to 2008.

Some of these women will be recalled to have new smear tests carried out, BBC News NI can reveal.

The Southern Trust said that the women affected should receive letters by post from Tuesday.

It follows a highly critical report commissioned by the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath).

It found:

• Several cytology staff were "significantly underperforming".
• Mechanisms to check their work were flawed.
• Action taken by management was inadequate over many years.
• While a majority of negative results issued by the laboratory were correct, a "significant number" of these would likely have been identified as "potentially abnormal" by other laboratories.

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Source: BBC News, 9 October 2023