Women's Health Articles

Those of you that have your finger on the pulse of women’s health have probably realised that things are changing. Slowly but surely, areas of care are being put back into the hands of women! One example of this is the self-sampling cervical screening, which most of us call a smear test. 

The NHS are three months into a trial of at-home cervical screening tests as part of it’s Cervical Screening Programme. The ‘YouScreen’ trial, which started back in January, will see over 31,000 women in the UK receive a self-sampling swab.  

Women living in Barnet, Camden, Islington, Newham and Tower Hamlets who are 15 months overdue for a check are receiving the swabs in the post. Also, people with a cervix who attend a GP appointment for another reason, who are also six months overdue for a test are given one by their practitioner. North-London is being targeted because of the low smear test attendance rates in the area. 

This is not just a North-London problem. Around 1.5 million cervical screenings are missed every year in the UK and 1 in 4 women do not book an appointment when they are called.