Why me? Women's views of cervical screening in Greenwich
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Healthwatch Greenwich worked with Greenwich Public Health to understand why women didn’t attend invitations to take part in cervical smear testing. They ran focus groups in November and December 2022. They spoke to nine women altogether.
The most common words that women associated with cervical screening were pain, worried, discomfort and sexual transmission.
Women had heard from others that the procedure was likely to be painful. They were also likely to think that because the procedure was invasive, it would be painful. They also said that healthcare professionals didn’t talk about pain in relation to the procedure.
Women who selected worried as one of their words said that this was the first thing they thought when they got a call or letter asking them to come for an appointment.
Women felt discomfort about being touched in an intimate area by a stranger and were worried that the stranger might be a man.
A few women associated the screening with being sexually active and felt those who were not having sex did not need the test.
Most had no previous awareness of the test before being contacted to have one. Some reached out to family and friends for reassurance.
Women gave varied reasons for having the test, including detecting cancer.
When asked if they were aware what the cervical test entailed, many women said they were not sure. In particular, how long it might take, what preparation was needed, the instruments used, what pain relief was available, how long they would need to wait for results, or what choices they might have.
When asked if there were any practical challenges that made it difficult for them to have a cervical test, we heard that it could be hard to take time off work or studies. And it wasn’t always easy to contact GP practices to arrange an appointment or get more information.
The report concludes with five actions providers could take to encourage more women to get tested, including better communication and information about the procedure, having a female nurse or doctor conducting it and weekend and out of hours appointments.