Urgent treatment for three women after recall over faulty smear tests

The recall was ordered in August over concerns about tests carried out at Gildersome Health Centre in south Leeds, believed to date back to the start of the national cervical screening programme in 1988.

Three women had more serious diagnoses and three others had borderline changes which require additional monitoring.

The Yorkshire Post can today reveal the problems prompted wider concerns about the training of nurses and GPs carrying out cervical testing across Yorkshire and the North-East. Now national recommendations are being made to improve standards.

A total of 899 women were recalled in the alert although only 550 have so far take up the offer of repeat tests.

NHS Leeds said the three women with the most serious problems had diagnoses of a "moderate to severe nature". "There is no evidence to suggest that the cervical screening incident contributed to the abnormalities," it said in a statement.

A report into the incident says the problems emerged after a review found higher numbers of faulty smear tests were being reported by the GP practice.

Key problems at the surgery included a tester using a faulty technique and a lack of equipment.

But wider concerns were also raised about a lack of checks on testers and the failure to include a practical element in regional training for nurses and GPs who carry out tests.

In Leeds, data from cervical screening by sample takers is now reviewed every six months and they are also given help to monitor their performance. The tester in Gildersome had been retrained and is now working to the required standard.

Chief executive of NHS Leeds John Lawlor apologised for the inconvenience caused and said lessons would be learned in the city and further afield.

"We know it must have been a difficult time for everyone involved in the recall and we are pleased the majority of these women have now been re-tested," he said.

"I can assure women that NHS Leeds is committed to making improvements to this service as a result of our findings and will take forward this important piece of work during the coming year."

Liz Henley, who heads screening for the regional health authority, said a review of training had been ordered across Yorkshire and the North-East in the wake of the problems.

A smear test aims to prevent cancer. In most cases, checks are normal but in about seven per cent abnormalities can indicate problems developing which require further investigation.

Fewer than two-in-10,000 women screened show signs of having possible invasive cancer.

Numbers being screened rose by 12 per cent to 3.6 million nationally in 2008-9. The cancer affects 2,000 women each year.