Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce at-home test kits for cervical smears.

The Government has announced the introduction of human papilloma virus (HPV) self-testing in the National Health Service cervical screening programme for the under-screened population in England. The NHS has begun planning an in-service evaluation (ISE) of HPV self-testing in the wider population.

The purpose of the ISE is to ensure that the self-test is acceptable, accurate, and feasible compared with a clinician collected specimen, and to evaluate its impact on cervical screening uptake and ensure that the programme continues to prevent the same number of cancers. The findings of the ISE will inform any future UK National Screening Committee recommendation to ministers to offer self-testing across the whole population, alongside clinician-led screening.