The main Irish laboratory used by CervicalCheck is to stop accepting new smears from GPs as part of arrangements to clear the 80,000 backlog in the programme. MedLab Pathology will henceforth concentrate on processing its 60,000 share of the backlog, under the arrangements made with the Health Service Executive (HSE). Because of the backlog, patients are waiting up to 33 weeks to receive the results of their smears. If this cytology test finds changes, the woman will be referred for colposcopy, a detailed look at the cervix. “This means that if you have negative HPV results, you may experience a further delay in getting your final result.

Source: The Irish Times May 01, 2019 01:52 UTC