Cervical Screening

Cervical screening is not a test for cancer, it helps prevent cervical cancer by checking for a virus called human papillomavirus (or HPV for short) and cervical cell changes. During cervical screening a small sample of cells is taken from your cervix for testing. The cervical screening test itself should take less than 5 minutes. 

Attending for your cervical screening appointment is important as this checks the health of your cervix and helps find any abnormal changes before they can turn into cancer.

All women and people with a cervix between the ages of 25-64 should attend for their cervical screening, those registered as female with their GP will be automatically invited for routine screening and should receive their first invite a few months before turning 25.

You can have your cervical screening test at your GP surgery, and it is carried out by a healthcare professional usually either a member of the nursing team or doctor. In some areas, you may be able to go to a local sexual health clinic or walk-in centre instead.

Everyone's experience of cervical screening is different, discuss your concerns with a member of the nursing team or your doctor and they will work with you to put you at ease. Some may experience discomfort when the speculum is inserted, they can advise you on different positions to make it more comfortable, they can also recommend breathing techniques to help you relax. Remember you are in control and can stop the test at any time. 

If possible schedule your appointment on a day when you are not having a period and avoid the test two days before or after your period, please don't use new vaginal medications, lubricants or creams in the two days before you have your test because they can affect the results. If you are embarrassed about cervical screening then you are not alone, talk to the clinician doing the test and they can help put you at ease.

If you have previously lived abroad and not been part of the NHS cervical screening programme you may be due a test according to our records despite having had one in another country. 

If you have had your test abroad or privately we do ask that you let your GP surgery know as this will enable them to record this on your health records. 

HPV is short for Human papillomavirus virus, it is a common virus that most people will have at some point during their lives without knowing. HPV is spread through close skin to skin contact during any type of sexual activity and can stay in the body for many years. HPV lives on our skin so it is easy to get and difficult to completely protect against. HPV can stay at very low or undetectable levels and not cause any problems however sometimes it can cause abnormal cells in your cervix to develop, these can over time turn into cancer if left untreated. 99.8% of cervical cancer cases in the UK are caused by HPV, which means that nearly every case of cervical cancer is preventable.

The HPV vaccine protects against the most common types of HPV that causes cervical cancer however even if you have been vaccinated it is important that you have regular cervical screening once you reach the age of 25. This is because the HPV vaccine does not protect against all types of HPV which can cause cervical cancer.

NHS advice is that all women and people with a cervix between the ages of 25-64 should attend their cervical screening when invited regardless of whether they are sexually active. If you have never had any kind of sexual contact you may decide not to go for cervical screening but you can still have a test if you want one. If you are not sure whether to have cervical screening talk to your GP or member of the nursing team.

Results are usually received by letter within two weeks. Your cervical screening results letter will explain if HPV was found in your sample, what your results mean and what happens next. Most people will not have HPV present.