Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable – but screening is vital. Around 70 per cent of Australian women who develop cervical cancer do not get screened regularly as recommended, or have never been screened.

Women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 74 years of age are invited to have a Cervical Screening Test every 5 years through their healthcare provider.

Anyone who is eligible for cervical screening should be offered the choice of either a self-collected vaginal sample or a clinician-collected sample from the cervix. A self-collected sample is taken from the vagina (not the cervix) and is tested for the presence of HPV. Recent evidence shows a Cervical Screening Test using a self-collected sample is as accurate in detecting HPV as a clinician-collected sample taken from the cervix during a speculum examination.

Role of General Practice

As a health professional in a general practice, you are ideally placed to introduce, discuss the topic of and undertake cervical screening. 85% of cervical screening in NSW is performed in General Practice. Cervical Screening tests may also be completed at Community/Women’s Health Centres, Family Planning Centres, Sexual Health Clinics, Aboriginal Medical Service and Specialist Clinics. GPs can integrate their software with the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR) to access the most up to date screening results for their patients.

CESPHN can work with practices to ensure eligible patients are screened by:

Integrating clinical software with the NCSR;
Implementing recall and reminder systems;
Identifying never and under screened patients;
Provision of appropriate resources.

Resources for health professionals ( including guidelines,template links)

The National Cervical Screening Program Guidelines
Cervical Screening Pathway- Quick Reference Guide
Education and Training courses for GPs and practice nurses can be found at Family Planning NSW.
Update on National Cervical Screening Program’s Clinical Guidelines pathway for women at intermediate risk
Managing patients with symptoms of cervical cancer– these patients require diagnostic testing, rather than screening
Learn about the barriers stopping patients from taking part in cervical screening.
GP Fact Sheet: The Cervical Screening Test for Pregnant Women
Cervical Screening Communication Toolkit
People with intellectual disability are not screened as often as they should be. Just Checking aims to address this issue through training, resources and accessible information that has been co-designed by people with intellectual disability.
Find information and resources on how to engage patients with disability in cervical screening.
RAGCP Accredited webinar on Optimising cervical screening for people with disability

Information for health professionals to give to consumers

The Cervical screening – Taking care of your health Flipchart and Facilitator Manual have been designed to support those providing information on cervical cancer and cervical screening. The Flipchart is currently available in English, Arabic, Assyrian, Bengali, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Dari, Farsi, Khmer, Korean, Nepali, Spanish, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Department of Health and Aged Care- Translated Resources
Resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
Yarning about Aboriginal Women’s Health Business- SESLHD VIDEO
Screening with a disability – people with intellectual disability are not screened as often as they should.
LGBTQ people are less likely to have cervical screening than the general population. Everybody with a cervix is at risk of cervical cancer. ACON’s Cervical Screening campaign, Own It, empowers all women and people with a cervix to own their Cervical Screening Test.