Vol. 572 No. 3
367 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children the position on the smear clinics in County Mayo; if the service has been provided again; and if not, when the Western Health Board intends to resume this service. [23105/03]
The Western Health Board, which is responsible for the planning and delivery of health services within its functional area, has advised that the cervical smear clinics provided by the public health nurses in the region to date are to be discontinued as the quality of the service is not in keeping with best international practice. Although these clinics have served the communities of Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon satisfactorily for the past number of years, the Western Health Board is obliged to keep up to date with best practice.
Current best practice for cervical smear clinics recommends that they should be a doctor-led service and, in addition, that the results must be interpreted by a medical practitioner in the context of the patient's overall history. Medico-legal advice also confirms this view. The board has indicated that both nursing and medical practitioners have expressed the wish that best practice guidelines be followed.
The Western Health Board has, over the last number of years, promoted the development of women's health and family planning clinics at general practitioner level. It should be noted that under phase one of the national cervical screening programme, smear tests are taken primarily in GP clinics as well as in family planning-Well Woman clinics. Clinical responsibility for smears taken in the clinics and their follow-up rests with the medical practitioner.
The Western Health Board has indicated that a cervical smear testing service is available from GP practices; family planning clinics; Well Woman clinics and women's health sessions, which are provided by a number of GPs in the region for women who are medical card holders.
The Western Health Board has further advised that women who have attended the public health nurse cervical smear service should contact their general practitioner for their results. The public health nurses who had responsibility for the cervical smear clinics will continue to provide public health nursing services throughout the Western Health Board.
