To ask why you’ve missed/delayed/declined cervical screening?

[chickentikkawhatswrong]

I see a lot of the campaigns on Facebook about women not going to smears or putting them off for too long.

However it’s generally stats and doesn’t seem to delve too far into the actual reasons?

If you are reluctant what holds you back from attending?

Don't like having them done. Irregular periods. Low risk for cervical cancer.

Once a doctor put their finger up my bum without warning during one which I really didn't like & they essentially forced me into having it by withholding contraception until I had it which I also didn't like.

So I do usually tend to put it off often for about 6 months.

I'd add that the 'go for your screening ladies, it's there to save your life' type persuasion is very ineffective for me. There's an underlying assumption that people who don't go or are reluctant are silly and stupid which is NEVER persuasive (even if we are)

@okthx agree completely. In the last 6 months I've had a smear reminder, DH and I have been asked to provide BP readings and reminders for bowel screening. However my GP has refused to refer me for back investigations (I paid privately and yes the T12 was broken) and for NHS physio.

Perhaps someone would be kind enough to produce a comparative risk analysis of cervical cancer and covid.

@LyricalBlowToTheJaw. Obviously you do!😊

It’s uncomfortable but not painful and that’s it.

You do realise that everyone isn't the same as you, right? I mean no-one can be this stupid.

I mean no-one can be this stupid.

Sadly it appears they can, there’s quite a few of them on this thread!

I'm sorry, it's not about being able to keep my nose out of other people's reproductive systems.

Having had a gynae cancer ( not cervical, but picked up a nurse at the smear). All I can say is that having met people shit out their vagina where cancer had eaten tissue away or be admitted to hospital unable to breathe due to the tumours spreading. I personally would rather go through a smear than experience the above. I do have vaginal atrophy and despite no cervix I have to have vault smears as this is the most likely place for a recurrence. I can't have HRT and these smears are not comfortable but far better than brach therapy (radiotherapy seeds placed in vagina) chemo, major surgery etc.
I met no risk factors for my particular cancer bit still got it.

Would people seriously rather run the risk of the above than have a smear.

@Iheartmysmart

That’s a very good point by *@okthx*. I’ve been going to my GP for 7 YEARS with the same symptoms but nothing ever happens. Blood tests are done and quite honestly the last lot of results were abysmal but because they are barely in range the GP won’t treat.

However I’ve been bombarded with messages to get a smear test, get a mammogram, get a flu jab, get a coil.

A more cynical person could assume it’s to do with the fact they get paid extra for these.

Read the patient paradox by the above mentioned Margaret McCartney.

The Worried Well and taking up far more resources than they should be at the expense of those with an actual problem.

Its easy money. Whereas certain referrals might get taken out of your budget.

As per previous posters, I’ve done the research and it doesn’t add up for me. The false positives, the unnecessary treatments, the fake narrative where women aren’t told they actual statistics to be able to make informed decisions about their own bodies, the policing and bullying from other women who feel it’s their duty to force others to go so they feel better about going themselves.

It’s yet another misogynistic tool of control. No thank you.

@Tillyvonpantsalo

Would people seriously rather run the risk of the above than have a smear.

I don’t want to run a risk of anything, but I have got many more organs than my vagina/cervix and no one interested to have any kind of checks/scans/tests. Why, please tell me why it’s only my cervix or my breasts (once I reach certain age)?

@Tillyvonpantsalo

I'm sorry, it's not about being able to keep my nose out of other people's reproductive systems.

Having had a gynae cancer ( not cervical, but picked up a nurse at the smear). All I can say is that having met people shit out their vagina where cancer had eaten tissue away or be admitted to hospital unable to breathe due to the tumours spreading. I personally would rather go through a smear than experience the above. I do have vaginal atrophy and despite no cervix I have to have vault smears as this is the most likely place for a recurrence. I can't have HRT and these smears are not comfortable but far better than brach therapy (radiotherapy seeds placed in vagina) chemo, major surgery etc.
I met no risk factors for my particular cancer bit still got it.

Would people seriously rather run the risk of the above than have a smear.

I think the answer to your question is they would rather take the risk that they are unlikely to be in that situation rather than the certainty of the examination.

That tells you rather a lot about the procedure and how its not fit for purpose.

It also says that people make different, valid risk assessments and are perfectly capable of doing so.

Crossing the road and driving a car carries the risk of ending up in a traumatic accident. We still do it.

Would be interesting to see the age range of the ‘it doesn’t hurt, it’s just a bit uncomfortable’ people.

They were a breeze for me in my 20s and 30s too.

My last one at 47 was excruciating. I know how important it is, but I’m in no rush to go back.

You've missed bowel screening. You will also be asked of you'd like to do stool samples for this once you reach a certain age.

This is true, people are obese, drink and smoke to much and are happy to run these risks.

It is a personal decision, but for me the right one.

I delayed going for mine last year when they sent me the letter because I had a fractured foot and ankle and had been put on bed rest for the 6 weeks I spent in the cast. I have just been sent another letter so I’m going to arrange to go for it.

Because I have two zero hours jobs - and don't find out my hours until the Thursday of the week before. And the GP practice can only give me an appointment on two afternoons of a week, two weeks from now. So it is extremely difficult to plan. I do want to attend for my Cervical Smear Test, but it is difficult to get an appointment that suits.

@Tillyvonpantsalo
Good! Another screening to be pestered with. While my grandma died of skin cancer, my grandfather from liver cancer and my sibling suffered from thyroid cancer. I’m not invited for additional liver scans, no one checks my skin for malicious moles and I’ve been refused to have a proper thyroid check. I don’t want to live my life on their terms, I want to make my own decisions without being patronised and pestered. I want one click opt out.

[quote Katya213]@LyricalBlowToTheJaw. Obviously you do!😊[/quote]
No. Try a bit harder to understand.

Nobody gives a shit what you think, including me. That is, your opinion on the matter is valueless. However, a number of us give a shit about your behaviour, that is you berating other women. There's a distinction. If you had an unhealthy interest in other women's health decisions but didn't mither anyone else with it, there would be no fucks to give.

Actually I think something has gone wrong in the system. Like the pp I was fine in my 20s/30s when they were still done by the GP or my health insurance covered me for them privately. Having had some rough exams and inappropriate comments in labour and post natally I am much more sensitive and have had some bladder and bowel problems due to a poorly managed birth. I also have a large rectocele.

Since my pregnancies I have either paid privately or the very nice gp at our surgery has done them. Unfailingly when they have been done by a practice nurse they have either hurt, I have bled, they have had to be redone or spectacularly vulgar comme to have been made. I am glad I am not reliant on NHS care.

I don't think reluctance is a women's problem. It's an NHS competence and conduct problem and GP practices who receive payme to for quotas need to do a great deal more to ensure their nurses are trained both clinically and pastorally and to ensure their gobby/vulgar comments are kept for their personal circles of family and friends.

This thread is awful. Why the fighting.
Respect each others choices.

I’ve had cancer. I don’t go for a smear. I’ve been given the chance to trial the in home option which I will do.

@Tillyvonpantsalo

You've missed bowel screening. You will also be asked of you'd like to do stool samples for this once you reach a certain age.

The difference is you can do that one in the privacy of your own home and it's not invasive.

Meant to add above that whenever my smears have been done by a gynaecologist or my GP they have not hurt, I have not bled and I have not been recalled due to a faulty sample. That is why I will not have them carried out by a practice nurse.

@Redcrayons

Would be interesting to see the age range of the ‘it doesn’t hurt, it’s just a bit uncomfortable’ people. They were a breeze for me in my 20s and 30s too. My last one at 47 was excruciating. I know how important it is, but I’m in no rush to go back.

Mine have always hurt. They are less excruciating the older I get because it’s no longer giant metal contraptions being shoved up by an unsympathetic doctor while I’m too shy to complain. But it’s still hideous. I’ve had vaginal examinations and sweeps, all a breeze compared to smears. And I can completely understand why women don’t go. What the NHS should be doing is reading threads like these and working out 1) whether they need such a massive screening advertising campaign, and if so 2) how to address women’s genuine reasons for not scheduling smears. But I’m sure they’ll stick to the “don’t be embarrassed, it only takes a minute, girls!” angle that patronises us all.

Why have some many posters joined this post only to say no sorry your reasons for not taking part in screening just isn't good enough? Who are you to say it's not a good enough reason