Cervical Cancer: Screening

To support improving the access and uptake of the NHS Cervical Screening Programme, the National Health Service has a series of initiatives underway, including:

- developing a digital-first approach to cervical screening invitations and reminders, including using the Cervical Screening Management System (CSMS) to create opportunities to communicate with the population differently;

- introducing a revised invitation correspondence, and subsequent reminder letter, in 2025/26, that is sent to 24.5 year olds to specifically highlight the need to attend a cervical screening even if they have had the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, and to raise awareness of the HPV vaccine catch-up offer for those up to 25 years old;

- using CSMS to enable an opt-in process for transgender and non-binary peoples’ screening invitations to ensure that no-one eligible misses out on the opportunity to be invited and participate;

- expanding the range of accessible public information materials across all screening programmes, and continuing to highlight the importance of screening within our regular equalities-focused communications and engagement;

- developing an agile cervical screening workforce that can respond to fluctuations in demand through workforce planning, accounting for potential future changes to screening offers, which is being directed by the UK National Screening Committee;

- identifying low-cost/no-cost opportunities to communicate the NHS’s aim to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, highlighting the value of cervical screening and the HPV vaccination as fundamental to achieving this goal.

The UK National Screening Committee is also considering the benefits of introducing self-sampling for cervical screening non-attenders.