Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with members of the UK national screening committee on amending NHS guidelines to allow cervical smear test samples from under 25s to be examined if a GP requests an examination.

A cervical smear may not be the most appropriate test for patients presenting with symptoms. The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) encourages all women who have concerns about their health or who present with symptoms to contact their general practitioner (GP), who will then decide on the most appropriate next steps and diagnostic tests.

There have been no discussions with members of the UK NSC in amending National Health Service guidelines to allow cervical smear test samples from under 25s to be examined if a general practitioner requests an examination.