Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce waiting times for smear test results.

NHS England is taking steps to make sure the delivery, performance and oversight of screening services meet the high standard National Health Service patients rightly expect. This includes moving samples around the country to reduce the burden on those laboratories most under pressure.

Unpublished management data has also shown a significant improvement in turnaround times in the last quarter of 2018/19, therefore it is expected that as the proportion of women benefitting from HPV primary screening continues to increase, waiting times for smear test results will reduce.

Nevertheless, the 14-day turnaround time for test results to be provided remains a vital target for the NHS Cervical Screening Programme.