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West Midlands Cervical Screening Programme

Current Performance Data

The performance of the cervical screening programme can be reviewed against national performance standards. There are many performance standards for each area of the cervical screening service.

Coverage

One of the measures of effectiveness of the programme is coverage. This is the percentage of women in the target age group (25 to 64) who have been screened in the last five years. If an overall coverage of 80 per cent can be achieved, the evidence suggests that a reduction in death rates of 65 to 70% is possible in the long term. In 2009/10 the national coverage of eligible women was 78.9% which was the same as the previous year. Coverage in the West Midlands was 78.5% in 2009/10. For several years both regional and national coverage has shown a downward trend, particularly in younger women, causing concern that some women do not wish to participate in the cervical screening programme. This issue was flagged as requiring action in the Department of Health's Cancer Reform Strategy published in December 2007and continues to require attention. Regional and national data are available from the Cervical Screening bulletin at NHS Community Health Statistics, Cervical Screening Programme 2009/10.

Regional and national data are available from the Cervical Screening bulletin at NHS Community Health Statistics, Cervical Screening Programme 2009-10
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West Midlands Coverage Data: 5 year and 3 year coverage 2009/10

Laboratory workload

There are 12 cytopathology laboratories in the West Midlands analysing samples for the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. The length of time taken to process the workload varies between laboratories and is mainly dependent on having sufficient numbers of trained staff in place. In 2009/10, the overall proportion of cervical screening tests in the West Midlands reported within 4 weeks was 57.7%.

Results of screening in 2009/10

In the West Midlands 285,000 cervical samples were processed from the target population (women ages 25-64).

2.9% samples were inadequate where no result could be determined. Of the remaining tests that were adequate, 89.0% were negative and 8.1% had an abnormality detected.
 
 
West Midlands Laboratories Reporting Profile 2009/10
 

Colposcopy workload/waiting time

At least 90% of all women referred to colposcopy with an abnormal cervical screening test result should be offered an appointment within 8 weeks of referral and at least 90% of all women referred to colposcopy with a test result of moderate dyskaryosis or worse (high grade) should be given an appointment within 4 weeks of referral. Referral waiting times in the West Midlands have shown a marked improvement over the last 5 years. In 2009/10, 23 of the 25 West Midlands colposcopy clinics met the waiting time standard for all referrals. Overall, 99.0% of all women referred to colposcopy were given an appointment within 8 weeks. 22 clinics met the standard for high grade referrals with 95.9% of women in the West Midlands with high grade abnormalities being offered appointments within 4 weeks of referral.
 
 
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Last Updated 23/05/2011