To be pleased self screening for cervical cancer is being trialled in the UK

[FredSoftly]

Only in London at the moment and only on 31,000 women.

The test is done at home (swab your vagina) and returned in prepaid envelope to be checked for the presence of HPV. If no HPV - no further action needed. If HPV found you'll need to have a regular smear at GP.

It was discussed on Radio4 Today at 08.39 this morning.

The doctor said it would offer women "choice, convenience and privacy."

@Englishgirl9

Ladies I understand some of you have had bad experiences with smear tests but I would urge you to get them done as they can save your life. I would suggest asking for a different doctor or clinician, explaining your concerns beforehand so that they will be understanding and take it slowly with the procedure. If you don't feel comfortable at any point, ask them not to proceed and try again another time. I know it can be extremely difficult, but they are so important to do.

Wow, thanks for the advice. Who knew that smear tests happen for a reason, and that trauma and anxiety are things that can be so easily brushed aside with a bit of willpower and a confident attitude?

@DoYouRememberTheInnMiranda

I found the BBC news article a bit lacking in reasons why women don't come forward for their smears - it talked about covid worries but didn't mention that they're bloody painful and uncomfortable for many of us.

Or the fact they have been cost cutting and you can no longer access them at family planning or any walk in clinics. This means it is impossible to book one. I never know in advance when I have a day off or predictable cycles so being able to just nip to the family planning clinic as a walk in was fine. Removing these drop ins was a big mistake.

“They can save your life”. Here we go again. 🙄

i hope there will always be a choice. I prefer to have these things done by a nurse.

@poppycat10

Although: don't about 90% of us have HPV present so it's not going to reduce the number of actual required smears by that much?

I think 80% of us get HPV at some point in out lives but in most cases our bodies get rid of it. This test won't mean the end of smear tests but will reduce the number of women who require them.

I ended up at the "difficult women" clinic (yes, that's how the GP described it) after two failed attempts by her to get one done, one of them with a diazepam prescription. Thankfully the clinic was amazing, with two nurses at the "head end" chatting to me and calming me down, which was such a contrast to having "you have to relax otherwise I can't get this in!" barked at me by the GP.

And yes, my tensing up is most likely psychosomatic, but it bloody well hurts, plus I have arthritis in my hips and lower spine, so the position I need to be in is also very painful, and sends the muscles into spasm (although not with two diazepam, I was very relaxed at the clinic, so much so they gave me very specific instructions about being really really careful crossing roads on the way home ).

I still don't appreciate being treated like an idiot who's just a bit worried that someone is going to see my fanny!

@sourpu55

And it only took a global pandemic for this to happen!

I'm not sure this is directly COVID-related. There have been several dozen studies in other countries between 2007 and 2018. The ballpark figure is that women are twice as likely to take up cervical cancer screening if they can do it by self-sampling compared with standard-of-care screening practices. I hope it rolls out throughout the UK soon.

I'm autistic and after a particularly bad experience, haven't had a test for many years. I imagine self screening will be helpful for a lot of autistic women. I hope the trial goes well and it's soon rolled out to the rest of the UK.

Brilliant for women who are uncomfortable with the idea of somebody touching them like myself, hope it's rolled out nationwide.

I think it's a great idea! I live in an area of London that is offering it but I hadn't heard about it at all. I got a letter to book a smear a few weeks ago, which I finally called about yesterday and booked in for next week. The at home test wasn't mentioned at all though.

While it may help many women, I’d be really concerned about the efficacy of it, and the potential for missed issues of concern. It won’t be a victory for women if more women end up dying needlessly from cervical cancer.

I don’t like having smears, but I’d rather always get them done by a trained professional.

Sounds great - last time I went to the nurse, she couldn't do it, then a GP appointment, she couldn't do it, finally to a gynae at the hospital who finally managed to do it (while a lovely nurse held my hand). Just think how much time and money this will save as well.

No embarrassment here. I just know my chances of getting cervical cancer are tiny but my chances of being sent for unnecessary colposcopy is high. I'll participate in screening when the screening test is adequate & not a profit orientated, gesture of concern about women's health.

More & more women I know are opting out because they can read & aren't stupid.

As long as it works, it is obviously a good thing. Thanks to the vaccine, cervical smears will probably not be necessary for younger women in the future anyway. I'm in my 50s so I need them once every five years at the moment but I would be happy not to have any more.

Would be wonderful if some day in the future a urine test was invented for this I find it one of the most traumatic horrible things to go through and then the worry if something is wrong and having to go through even more awful invasive procedures is like a black cloud over me whenever I have one . I’ve had stuff happen to me in the past and find anyone or anything touching me very traumatic

Yes this is good. I had a smear a couple of months ago and was aware it would only test for HPV in the first instance and I thought at the time ‘well why don’t they just give out HPV tests then smears will only be needed for those with a HPV positive result?’ It would be great if we could do our own HPV tests every 3-5 years then seek a smear if needed.

I think 80% of us get HPV at some point in out lives but in most cases our bodies get rid of it. This test won't mean the end of smear tests but will reduce the number of women who require them

Oh I see. That's helpful, thank you.

I found the BBC article fairly irritating in mentioning 'embarrassment' as a major factor affecting the take-up rate for smear appts - just came across as lazy and makes women look weak, to be putting embarrassment before their health, and I doubt it is a major factor. At least, it's rarely mentioned on MN threads on the subject. Surely the main reasons range from fear of finding something or belief that they won't find anything to physical pain and the anxiety associated with reliving trauma which occurred during childbirth or sexual assault. Did a woman write this?

You can actually buy this type of this from Superdrug for £49.

Excellent news, we discussed this at my smears training a year ago, how this will be the future now we're HPV primary testing. I often tell patients this will be happening in the future and most are really happy. Only those who are HPV positive would have to come in for their smears then. Brilliant progress for women.

I think it’s great that this trial is happening and hope it’s successful so it can be rolled out widely to give women more choice in how it’s done.

However, I personally would continue to have smears done by a professional because I would be worried I wasn’t swabbing myself effectively.

@Beaniecats

My gp surgery isn't doing them Because of covid

They should be reported then, because it was one thing we were told NOT to stop doing. That's appalling that they aren't offering it.

I think it's great that this might mean better choice for women in the future...however I hope this doesn't replace the option to have a smear conducted by a professional.

I have zero confidence that a swab I collected would be correct and whilst I loath the smear experience I would still choose to do that over a self-swab.

Yes, the reporting is indeed annoying for the reasons pp say concerning reasons given for avoidance (silly vain women who don’t know what’s good for them) and also for the fact that it does not spell out clearly that in the majority of cases, the cells taken in a smear are not looked at further as the sample is HPV negative. the value added by getting that sample from the actual cervix requiring a speculum to be inserted is zero, the vaginal wall is fine. As for worries about doing it right - well, if there are insufficient cells to test for HPV the test will be rejected. And this has happened twice to me with a professional doing a smear - tests can go wrong and need to be repeated. I’ve done the Superdrug HPV test and it is relatively easy. Simpler than the COVID at home test. Then there are the claims that smears offer some sort of visual check - no disrespect to HCP’s doing this but they are not trained in gynaecology and this isn’t the point of a smear.

@DimOndCadwAnadlu

I think it's great that this might mean better choice for women in the future...however I hope this doesn't replace the option to have a smear conducted by a professional.

I have zero confidence that a swab I collected would be correct and whilst I loath the smear experience I would still choose to do that over a self-swab.

The swan is a normal simple cotton bud and just needs to rub against the vaginal wall no special way Of doing it so very little chance of getting it wrong. Easier to do than a covid test.