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94
Cervical Cytology
The five clinics established during 1965, staffed by General
Practitioner Obstetricians and nurses from the Department, continued
at various centres throughout the year.
At these clinics facilities were available for "well women" over
the age of 25 years and post natal mothers to have cervical smears
taken and examined for the detection of pre-malignant conditions.
The smears were examined by Dr. Thomas and his staff at Greenwich
District Hospital, who were able to check 120 specimens each
week.
Unfortunately despite widespread publicity by the dissemination
of posters and personal approaches by Doctors, Health Visitors,
Midwives and District Nurses, the attendance at these clinics has
been disappointing throughout the year. Certainly more General
Practitioners are undertaking this service in their own surgeries,
but there are still many women "at risk" (i.e. married women with
children) who are not availing themselves of the opportunity to
ensure that they do not develop advanced cancer of the cervix.
Statistics have not been collected for a sufficient time to make
any final accurate judgement on the preventive nature of this
service as far as Greenwich is concerned.
Of the 1,791 specimens examined by the 31st December, 1967,
4 were found to require further investigation, and 76 women were
referred for treatment of various gynaecological conditions followed
by re-examination of a cervical smear.
During 1967, cytology teams carried out sessions at local hospitals
for the benefit of nursing, administrative and domestic staff; 271
women accepted this opportunity for examination at their place of
employment.
The scheme of preventive medical examination was extended
during the year by offering an examination of the breasts to every
woman attending the cytology clinics. Following examination by
the doctor, the women were instructed by a nurse in selfexamination
of the breasts. They were also shown a film strip and
given a pamphlet to remind them of the proper sequence for such
examinations.
Almost every woman attending the clinics took advantage of this
additional preventive care. Since deaths from carcinoma of the
breast are more than four times those for carcinoma of the cervix,
this examination is perhaps even more valuable from a life saving
point of view than cytological screening. Unfortunately carcinoma
of the breast is more prevalent amongst unmarried and nulliparous
women—those who are seldom seen at the cytology clinics. When