Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support GP surgeries and sexual health clinics in handling increased demand for follow-up cervical screening appointments resulting from positive high-risk HPV self-tests.

I refer the Hon Member to the press release issued by NHS England setting out the objectives of the self-testing rollout, and to the impact assessments carried out to inform the development of this policy, all of which are available at the following links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2026/08/nhs-rolls-out-discreet-home-testing-kits-against-cervical-cancer-for-millions-of-women/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cervical-screening-hpv-self-sampling-impact-assessments