Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 December 2018
84. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health his plans to ensure that future CervicalCheck screening can be carried out in publicly run facilities here to the highest standards; if the requirements needed in terms of suitably qualified graduates and university programmes have been examined to ensure such a programme can operate effectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50775/18]
View answerMy priority is and will remain the provision of services of the highest quality. It is important to be clear that the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into CervicalCheck, published on 12 September on the website of my Department, provides welcome reassurance on the quality of all laboratories currently contracted to provide services for CervicalCheck, including the private laboratories contracted both in Ireland and America (Medlab Pathology and Quest Diagnostics, respectively) and the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital in Dublin.
As the Deputy will be aware, switching to HPV testing as the primary screening mechanism will require a reconfiguration of laboratory services. While it is likely that a tendering process will be needed to meet at least some of the HPV testing requirement, the potential to use public laboratories in Ireland to carry out testing for the programme is being carefully assessed as part of the planning of this major project.
As part of the project plan for the switch to HPV testing, I will ask CervicalCheck to liaise with the relevant training bodies to ensure that those bodies continue to produce suitably qualified graduates to meet the needs of the CervicalCheck programme.
