More women are missing deadline for smear tests

 

There has been an 11 per cent rise in the number of women overdue for a smear test — the check-up that could help save them from potentially deadly cervical cancer.

Critics today claimed the issue was exacerbated because it was difficult to make an appointment with a GP outside working hours.

Figures reveal that 743,000 women in London were overdue for their smear tests in 2010/11. This rose to 812,000 in 2012/13.

The vast majority of the women missing tests — 669,000 of the most recent figure — were aged between 25 and 49.

Shadow health minister Liz Kendall, who uncovered the data, said: “Someone is diagnosed with cervical cancer every three hours in the UK, and it kills three women every single day. Smear tests save thousands of lives every year, so this recent drop in uptake is extremely worrying.

“It’s vital to increase public awareness and make it easier for women to book their tests, including outside normal working hours.”

The rise was mirrored across the rest of the country, with more than a million women in their thirties now overdue their smear test.

But the Government said there was no evidence to suggest the rise was down to women finding it difficult to get GP appointments.

A spokesman at the Department of Health said: “It is disingenuous to suggest that more women are unable to get a smear test because of GP access issues.

“We know there was a significant rise in women wanting tests in 2009 following Jade Goody’s death, and now fewer women choose to take up the invitation to have a smear.”

Former Big Brother star Goody died at her Essex home from cervical cancer in March 2009. She was 27.

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