New software could soon allow eligible islanders to be automatically called up for cervical screening instead of having to sign up for their first appointment.
Published this week, the annual Health and Care Jersey Quality Account 2024 revealed that work to procure software to allow the cervical screening service to become “opt-out” is underway.
Cervical screening, also known as a smear test, checks the health of the cervix and helps prevent cervical cancer – the most common cancer occurring in those aged 35 and under.
Everyone with a cervix between the ages of 25 and 64 is eligible for screening in Jersey – but islanders are not automatically invited for their first appointment.
The Women’s Health and Wellbeing Joint Strategic Needs Assessment report, published at the end of last year, found that screening programmes for conditions like breast and cervical cancer in the island were “performing well” but had some “gaps in coverage”.
The report found that cervical cancer screening coverage in Jersey was 76% for women aged 25-49, and 86% for women aged 50-64 – both higher than England’s rates of 66% and 75% respectively.
“While financial barriers to services like cervical screening remain a concern, efforts to improve access to preventative care were noted,” the report said.
The move to make cervical screening an opt-out service comes just months after the Government announced a new project to ensure all eligible islanders are automatically called up for breast screening.
People in Jersey currently need to register for breast screening when they turn 50, and cancer charities have previously raised concerns that this ‘opt-in’ process could allow some islanders to “fall through the net”.
But thanks to £785,000 of charity funding, those already eligible for breast screening who have not registered for the service will be contacted and invited for a mammogram in 2025 and 2026.
And from 2027, all eligible islanders will be automatically called up rather than having to inform the Health Department that they would like to be screened.
These improvements to the island’s breast screening programme were introduced thanks to a new £255,000 mammography machine, paid for by the John Clive Le Seelleur Trust, and £530,000 of funding from Jersey Cancer Relief for additional members of staff.
The new mammography machine, which is based at the Enid Quenault Health and Wellbeing Centre in St Brelade, will be used for routine screenings.
You can find out more about cervical screening here.
You can find out more about breast screening here.