General practitioners and the provision of Papanicolaou smear-tests: current practice, knowledge and attitudes

General practitioners are the main providers of Papanicolaou smear-tests yet, given the current suboptimal rates of cervical screening, it is clear that their full potential as screening providers is not being realized. To date, no information has been available concerning the possible barriers to the provision of Papanicolaou smear-tests by general practitioners. The present study assessed the views of a random sample of NSW general practitioners regarding the value of smear-tests, the most appropriate providers, the recommended screening protocol, and factors that were thought to influence both practitioners' provision and women's utilization of screening. The results indicate a number of changes to the current system which could counter screening barriers such as educational programmes for general practitioners, more female providers and the investigation of alternative services, consensus screening guide-lines, and screening registers and recall systems.