Vol. 513 No. 6
248 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress, if any, made on ensuring quality measures for cervical screening; the proposals, if any, he has received from the national expert advisory group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2976/00]
The report of the Department of Health and Children cervical screening committee contained many recommendations on quality assurance in the context of the introduction of a national cervical screening programme. Phase 1 of the national programme will commence in early summer 2000 in the Mid-Western Health Board area.
The expert advisory committee on cervical screening, which is overseeing the introduction of phase 1 of the programme, has also considered the issue of best practice in relation to cervical screening. The committee recently finalised comprehensive guidelines on quality assurance for the national programme. Specifically, the guidelines establish quality assurance targets for general practitioners and smear takers, laboratories, the colposcopy service and the register office.
The guidelines have recently been submitted to my Department and consideration is currently being given to their implications and also to the question of ensuring that all relevant bodies are fully informed with regard to their contents. Adherence to the guidelines will be a basic requirement in terms of ensuring a national screening programme which is both effective and of the highest quality.
In addition to the foregoing, sub-groups of the expert advisory committee are continuing with their work on producing further documents covering the areas of external quality assurance for the laboratory and fail-safe measures throughout the programme.
