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An assessment of smear taker training in the Northern & Yorkshire cervical screening programme
Keith Faulkner1, Lesley Greenwood, Elaine Stamp
1Quality Assurance Reference Centre, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. keith.faulkner@newcastle-pct.nhs.uk
Objective:
To assess the impact of a regional smear taker training scheme within the Northern and Yorkshire Cervical Screening Programme.
Design:
An analysis of cervical screening KC activity returns to the Department of Health before and after the introduction of a structured training programme for smear takers.
Setting:
Northern and Yorkshire Region of England.
Subjects:
Women participating in cervical screening.
Results:
The introduction of a region-wide smear taker training programme has resulted in fewer inadequate cervical smears, fewer opportunistic smears and fewer women aged below 20 having cervical smears. The training programme is cost effective.
Conclusions:
It is recommended that all cervical screening programmes consider the introduction of smear taker training. It is a cost-effective approach to running the cervical screening programme.