NHS Digital1 must be quoted as the source of these figures
Regional data available in this report
7 November 2017
Cervical screening coverage2 for women eligible for testing has fallen by 0.7 percentage points in the last year, according to statistics published today by NHS Digital.
Latest figures for the NHS Cervical Screening Programme for the 2016-17 financial year show that coverage for women aged 25 to 64 was 72.0 per cent as at 31 March 2017, down from 72.7 per cent in 2016 and from 75.7 percent in 2011, when collection of age appropriate coverage began.3
As at 31 March 2017:
- coverage for women aged 25 to 49 was 69.6 per cent, compared to 70.2 per cent in 2016
- for women aged 50 to 64, coverage was 77.2 per cent, a decline from 78.0 per cent in 2016
- at a regional level,4 coverage of the full target group (ages 25 to 64) ranged from 65.7 per cent in London to 75.4 per cent in the East Midlands
- all regions reported a fall in coverage when compared with 2016
NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England in 2016-17 reports on screening intended to detect abnormalities within the cervix that could, if left undetected and untreated, develop into cervical cancer.
This publication includes statistics on women aged 25 to 64 who are invited for regular screening; screening samples examined by pathology laboratories and referrals to colposcopy clinics.
Key findings for the target age group of women aged 25 to 64 included:
- a total of 4.45 million women were invited for screening in 2016-17. This represents an increase of 5.6 per cent from 2015-16, when 4.21 million women were invited
- the number of women tested in 2016-17 was 3.18 million, an increase of 2.9 per cent from 2015-16, when 3.09 million women were tested5
The percentage of results showing a high-grade abnormality decreased with age. It was highest at 2.7 per cent for women aged 25-29, falling to less than 0.5 per cent for women aged 50 to 64.
Annual data will also be available for the first time through an interactive online tool, which will provide more detailed information to Clinical Commissioning Group level.
Data dashboards containing quarterly figures were developed by NHS Digital, Public Health England and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust earlier this year to help identify where screening levels could be improved and encourage work to boost coverage.6
ENDS
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