Trust leads the way in cervical cytology screening

Pennine Acute Trust leads way in cervical cytology screening

Women across Greater Manchester are set to benefit from a fast high quality cervical screening service which will be introduced over the next few months.

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been chosen by the Association of Greater Manchester Primary Care Trusts as the provider for cervical cytology services across all 10 primary care trusts (PCTs) across the region.

Covering Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale; Oldham; Bury; Manchester;  Salford; Ashton, Wigan and Leigh; Trafford; Stockport; Bolton and Tameside and Glossop PCTS, the Pennine Acute Trust will now screen and report on all cervical smears performed within Greater Manchester.

The samples, which include smear tests which women have had taken at GP surgeries, hospital outpatient appointments or community clinics, will be transported from a number of aggregation points across the region to the specialist cytology laboratory at The Royal Oldham Hospital, where they will be processed for screening.  These samples will then be screened using the latest technology and individual reports issued detailing the result of the screen and any follow up actions the patient will require.

This is the first time the whole of the Greater Manchester area has had its cervical cytology screening services centralised.  The service, which screens around 180,000 specimens annually, is currently provided from laboratories at five hospital sites. National studies have however shown that larger units, such as the centre of excellence at the Trust, are able to provide a higher quality service as they concentrate expertise and experience, and ensure the workload levels needed to maintain competency.

Len Fielding, Pathology directorate manager at The Pennine Acute Trust, is confident that the roll-out of the service will be smooth.  He said: "The Trust already provides this service to women in the Oldham, Bury, Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale areas and so we are certain that we can now create a centre of excellence for cervical cytology screening for the whole of Greater Manchester.

"The central pathology laboratory at The Royal Oldham Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility which was opened in 2008 and designed to accommodate increasing workloads across a range of disciplines, so we are particularly looking forward to welcoming new members to the cervical cytology team from laboratories currently delivering this service.

"The key driver for us is that patients will get accurate results more quickly, secure in the knowledge that the individuals screening their specimens are experts in cervical cytology."