Note: Revision (7 December 2009)

Subsequent to publishing 2008-09 data on 22 October 2009, the London regional Cervical Screening Quality Assurance team identified an error within the colposcopy data for 5 London organisations. The error was as a result of an IT issue which has since been resolved. The data has now been revised (from the above date). There has been a small impact on England level data (increasing figures by approximately 0.7 per cent for referrals) and an increase of 3.6 per cent for London referrals. All relevant tables and text have been revised.

Summary

This bulletin presents information about the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England and includes data about the call and re-call system, screening samples examined by pathology labs and referrals to coloposcopy and subsequent treatment and outcome.

Key facts

• For the first time since 2002 the percentage of eligible women aged 25 to 64 who have been screened at least once in the previous 5 years (coverage) has increased. It is now 78.9 per cent compared with 78.6 per cent last year, 81.6 per cent in 2002 and 82.3 per cent in 1999.
• The increase in coverage is more prominent amongst the younger age groups. The proportion of 25 to 49 year olds (screened every 3 to 3.5 years) increased to 72.5 per cent compared with 69.3 per cent last year (a 3.2 percentage point increase). Within the older age range (50 to 64 – screened every five years) the proportion of women being screened has fallen slightly to 80.0 per cent compared with 80.3 per cent last year.
• The number of women screened (all ages) has increased to 3.7 million compared with 3.4 million last year, an increase of 10.5 per cent (around 353,000), those within the 25 to 64 age range have risen to 3.6 million from 3.2 million last year, an 11.9 per cent increase (around 384,000). The majority of this increase is for women aged 25 to 49.