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10. CERVICAL CYTOLOGY
Negotiations between the Council and the Regional Hospital Board during the year
led to submission of amended proposals under Section 28 of the National Health
Service Act, 1946, to the Ministry of Health to set up a clinic for the taking of cervical
smears for diagnostic cytological examination. These proposals were approved
and in December a cervical smear clinic was established at Cherington House Clinic.
A letter was sent to all the general practitioners who practise in the Borough inviting
them to refer patients to this clinic for screening. The patients referred must live
in the Borough and be aged 35 years and over, this being considered the age group
at maximum risk. The smears are taken at the clinic by a doctor and sent for
assessment to the pathological laboratory at King Edward Memorial Hospital.
The results are sent back to the clinic and a copy is forwarded to the patient's general
practitioner. There is no charge for this service. Although started on a small scale,
there is every hope of expansion of the service at an early date when more technicians
have been trained and are employed by the hospital.
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