In the region of 500 attended CervicalCheck - The National Cervical Screening Programme's national study day for health professionals in O'Reilly Hall, UCD, Dublin 4 on 22 September 2012.
Click here to download the study
Over 180 GPs and 230 PNs and others across health, education and advocates of screening, attended the national study day. The event was approved for Continuous Professional Development by ICGP and An Bord Altranais, fulfilling CervicalCheck’s commitment to clinical update education.
Majella Byrne, Acting Director of the National Cancer Screening Service, welcomed delegates saying: “Today provides a training opportunity for smeartakers who have direct interaction with all women participating in the programme, and are ideally placed to contribute to the development and enhancement of the cervical screening experience for women.
Cervical screening is a rapidly developing area of healthcare and as there are many interlinked components to both the delivery and the future planning for the programme, I anticipate that the breadth of contributors today will of great benefit to delegates, the programme, and ultimately to women in Ireland.
We are honoured to have such international interest and participation in this national study day and welcome participation from our esteemed colleagues from the UK and France.”
The overall aim of CervicalCheck is to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer by detecting changes in the cells of the cervix before they become cancerous. In the first four years since the programme launched on 1 September 2008, almost 1.3 million CervicalCheck smear tests were processed and more than 830,000 women have had at least one free smear test.
Over time, a successful national, quality-assured cervical screening programme has the potential to significantly reduce the incidence of and mortality from cervical cancer by as much as 80 per cent in the screened population.
Similar to other population-based screening programmes, BreastCheck and the upcoming diabetic retinopathy screening programme and national colorectal screening programme which will commence later this year, the National Cancer Screening Service ensures that quality assurance is paramount for CervicalCheck and all the essential elements are in place to ensure risks to patients are minimised and that the best clinical outcomes for patients are maximised.