Going for smear a couple of months early

[AvidOrca]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of going for their smear just under 3 months before their due date please?
I know when I am due (June) and don’t need the letter but I would like to go early (March) for personal reasons but I don’t want to risk it being rejected.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cervical-screening-accepting-samples-in-laboratories/guidance-for-acceptance-of-cervical-screening-samples-in-laboratories-and-pathways-roles-and-responsibilities

this website says samples “more” than 3 months are rejected but if anyone has any real life experience either as patient or Nurse that would be great please as I don’t want to risk rejection at all.

thanks <3

You say you don't need the letter but when I rang to book mine the surgery absolutely would not book it if I hadn't received the letter.

I asked for mine a month or so early as my husband and I were going to TTC, and got told no. I got pregnant first try so now instead of being a month early, I’ll end up having one almost a year late which is apparently preferable to the NHS!

thats interesting, I’ve seen on some GP websites that it says ‘you don’t need your letter’
maybe it varies from practice to practice
thanks for sharing your experience

I don’t remember 3 years ago whether they asked for my letter or what!

Sorry to hear that! Thanks for sharing your experience with me though
it sounds like the guidelines say one thing and practices say another
Congratulation on your pregnancy, wishing you all the best

My doctor surgery has added notes to many women in their 30s saying that they’ve “opted out of smear examinations”

we haven’t. I complained to the practice manager but got told I must have opted out and therefore I must wait to be called / for a letter to rebook.

I haven’t had one since about 2018! It’s hot topic on our local FB group as I’m about 1 of 150 local women affected.

When I was a Practice Nurse in Manchester we couldn't do them early as the lab would just reject them.

Omg that’s crazy! Do you think a sexual health clinic might be able to help you? bypass the GPs system?

Thank you for sharing your experience. Do you think the guidelines have changed recently please? as I shared a link from .gov site that says samples are rejected if MORE than 3 months early. It was updated in September 2024 but I don’t know what what guidelines were before

I don’t think they’ll do it three months early and not before you receive the letter which I find usually comes about a month early anyway.

The receptionist may not ask about the letter but the nurses always check if you’ve received it in my experience and double check the notes from previous smears. So while you may be able to book one the nurse might turn you away at the appointment.

Thanks, I believe it’s 6 weeks according to the government link. I realise I might be pushing it to go before the invite arrives

i think I will ask my practice though

That’s interesting, I honestly can’t remember what happens, I know they take your details. Maybe I can chance it depending on what my GP practice says

its seeming like there are 3 possible barriers

• GP admin might not accept me booking that early
• Nurse might reject appointment if not quite due
• Lab might reject sample

the last one seems the lesser likely because of the document I linked to. The first two I suppose are not a huge thing because that doesn’t prevent me from getting the test done at the due date
but once you actually have the test, you have to wait 3 months to be tested again, which I would like to avoid

incase you can’t tell I have a very unhealthy dose of health anxiety!

any other experiences welcome and thank you to everyone who has shared already

As far as I’m aware the lab would just reject the sample unless you’ve received a letter.

I imagine the letter is the official trigger to say you will attend and allow them to process the sample, then if they don’t receive a sample they follow it up with another letter to invite you again.

As the smear now tests HPV initially- could you buy one of the at home HPV testing kits to reassure yourself until June?

It will be rejected unfortunately

They will reject it if it's not due. I needed to have one before starting new MS treatment and they would do it. I had to go private for one in the end. I was then supposed to have annual ones. As I'm high risk due to the treatment. That's not happening either. They had to change the treatment guidelines, to just going when you are due one.

And don't even get me started on the HPV thing. I don't have HPV but am still higher risk. And I still can't get a proper smear.

Hi,
You physically don't have to have your letter (if you've forgotten it on the day etc) but the letter has to have been generated for your recall otherwise the sample will be rejected. Labs can see if letter recall is due, and if not they will reject.

They'll only do the sample if the system says you've been recalled.

And the wait between samples is because the cells taken from the cervix need to have time to grow back sufficiently so the sample is good. So they won't do it sooner as the sample won't be good enough.

If you're wanting it early due to TTC or anything then they will reject and just say to have it done after the pregnancy.

If you are wanting it early due to any kind of change in symptoms then you need to speak to a GP about your symptoms and they will assess and make a referral to colposcopy if appropriate. Then it's up to colp to do an early smear.

Thank you for the suggestion I might do that. It’s been a hard year health wise

That’s terrible I’m sorry to hear you’ve had such bad problems with your health and getting tests done. I know I wish they did HPV test AND cytology at the same time.

Thank you for your comments
thankfully no symptoms I am worrying about, just a lot of anxiety

i was hoping the ‘3 month’ note in the government document will give me some leeway

i checked just now and the list ‘closes’ 6 weeks before the due date and this is when the letter is triggered. So I would guess 6 weeks before my due date
due date 05/06/25
6 weeks 24/04/25
this date in April is the earliest I can go without rejection

I think

Is there a reason you are looking to have it early? If you are having symptoms that you are worried about, you can get those checked out. They won't do the smear early (the lab will reject it), but if you are having symptoms that you are concerned are cervical cancer, then a smear is not the correct test anyway and they would refer for colposcopy after an examination if the health care professional thinks it is warranted.

No thankfully no symptoms which is good. I am just very worried after a difficult year generally for my health and I have a lot going on in the summer that will make attending much more difficult

I think I can go as soon as my letter arrives which is 6 weeks before the due date. It’s not 3 months but it’s half that which is something I guess? I know the system needs to be run in a very strict way because so many women use it but it’s also hard to understand how things work when a gov document says one thing but everyone’s experience says another