Freephone information line: 1800 45 45 55

Cervical Check Weekly Report, 8 June 2018

(08 Jun 2018)

The HSE Serious Incident Management Team and the National Screening Service continue to work to respond to the CervicalCheck audit. This report provides a progress update on the response to this evolving situation. 

1.    Supports for women directly affected

Hospitals have been working since the SIMT was established to contact all the women affected and to discuss the audit with them.

  • Cases where the audit showed their test could have provided a different result: 209 women
  • Contact made to date with: 208 women /families

The HSE’s Community Health Organisations have appointed dedicated liaison officers who have been in contact with 198 of these women or families, and will continue to attempt to contact the remaining women or families, in order to offer them a range of supports to assist them. 

The HSE liaison officers have been working to ensure the women are contacted, meetings undertaken, referrals made and supports put in place. This process is ongoing and is being coordinated with the relevant acute hospitals.

The needs of the women are diverse, and range of services is being made available to all women, tailored to their individual needs and circumstances. This includes medical cards, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, home care packages, counselling, disability services, medication, transport and childcare costs and other supports. 

The process and all required supports will continue to be rolled out to all women directly affected.

2.    Women diagnosed with cancer but not notified to CervicalCheck

The HSE has been working with the National Cancer Registry of Ireland and the Department of Health to identify any other women who had cervical cancer since 2008, who may also have had a CervicalCheck test. The HSE is finalising the matching process with the National Cancer Registry, and it is expected that this can progress to the next stage early next week. 

This will involve a review to be carried out under the auspices of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists with expert input from the British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology. The HSE will agree a communication process with this International Clinical Expert Review Panel for those women identified by the National Cancer Registry matching process.

The scoping enquiry into the cervical check screening program, lead by Dr Gabriel Scally, has commenced its work.  Further information can be found at www.scallyreview.ie

 3.    Contact from women concerned about the CervicalCheck audit

The information line established on April 28th continues to operate and women are being offered the facility to receive a call-back from a member of our staff.

Since April 28th, 23,428 calls have been answered from women, and we have received 11,551 requests for calls to be returned. We have teams working within screening services and in hospitals across the country, making contact with all of the women who have requested a call back, and to date we have made 14,492 calls to women.

The volume of incoming calls to our call centre and requests for calls to be returned has now slowed significantly; there are additional calls that need to be returned to fully close out earlier calls and requests. These include cases where a second attempt is needed to speak with a caller or where a follow up call is necessary. Some more complex cases require additional calls in order to adequately address the queries raised by the women affected.  In addition CervicalCheck is also responding to requests made via email or social media.  

A number of women have requested copies of personal data and CervicalCheck are in the process of gathering this information in order to release these records to those women as soon as possible.

4.    Public Information

Women who have had normal test results in the past can continue to participate in the cervical screening programme according to their normal schedule, are advised to read the information on cervicalcheck.ie and then make contact with their GP if they remain concerned. Information and advice for women is being updated on cervicalcheck.ie.

  • CervicalCheck.ie: Since April 26th, 351,395 visits,  1,113,608 page views, 30,824 checked the register
  • Video advice for women with normal results: 
    Featuring Dr. Peter McKenna, Consultant Obs/Gynae. Views: 10,683
    Featuring Dr. Maitiu O’Tuathail, President of NAGP. Views: 117,977
  • Facebook Posts/Impressions: 12 / 1.86 million impressions
  • Facebook Comments/ Private Messages: 1,609 comments / 416 PMs replied to by HSE Comms
  • Twitter Activity: 80 Tweets since Friday 27th, 488,223 impressions, 14,959 engagements
  • Google Search Ads: 311,399 Impressions and 36,086 clicks since May 3rd            

5.    Health Professional Information

  • Information for GPs and Smeartakers: Correspondence and an updated Q&A is available on cervicalcheck.ie
  • Information for Colposcopy Clinics and Cancer Centres: Circulated by email
  • Advice Sheet for Women : Published on cervicalcheck.ie and circulated to a wider range of patient and advocacy organisations

Information about the CervicalCheck audit, and advice for anyone concerned, is on cervicalcheck.ie.

Is cuid den tSeirbhís Náisiúnta Scagthástála é CervicalCheck
Bosca Oifig Phoist 161, Luimneach
Saorghlao 1800 45 45 55
CervicalCheck is part of the National Cancer Screening Service
PO Box 161 Limerick
Freephone 1800 45 45 55

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Is cuid den Rannóg Sláinte agus Folláine i bhFeidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte í an tSeirbhís Náisiúnta Scagthástála. Cuimsíonn sí BreastCheck – An Clár Náisiúnta Scagthástála Cíoch, CervicalCheck – An Clár Náisiúnta Scagthástála Ceirbheacs, BowelScreen – An Clár Náisiúnta Scagthástála Putóige agus Diabetic RetinaScreen – An Clár Náisiúnta Scagthástála Reitiní do Dhiaibéitigh.

The National Screening Service is part of the Health and Wellbeing Division of the Health Service Executive. It encompasses BreastCheck – The National Breast Screening Programme, CervicalCheck – The National Cervical Screening Programme, BowelScreen – The National Bowel Screening Programme and Diabetic RetinaScreen – The National Diabetic Retinal Screening Programme.