Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 December 2019
427. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health if, further to the review of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists into cervical cancer cases, he will request a review of colposcopy practices as outlined in the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51653/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI welcome the aggregate Report of the Independent Expert Panel Review led by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) which was published on 3 December.
The RCOG report finds the CervicalCheck programme is working effectively and crucially that women can have confidence in the programme. I note the findings of the RCOG report in which the Expert Panel noted that colposcopy is an integral component of any cervical screening programme, that colposcopy management was in line with standard practice in the vast majority of cases reviewed and that the Review Team has said that women can have confidence in colposcopy services and in the Programme overall.
The report makes recommendations in regard to colposcopy services, and I have written to the HSE to request that it take full account of these recommendations in the detailed work underway to prepare for the introduction of HPV primary screening, including colposcopy capacity planning.
