Health Check ‘Out of Hours’
SMEAR tests are to be offered out of hours in a pilot project designed to cut incidence of cervical cancer.
Health officials in Darlington are concerned that the number of eligible women coming forward for routine screening tests is declining.
About 2,000 women in the area fail to turn up when invited by their GPs and the fear is that this could lead to an increase in cases of cervical cancer.
Health officials at Darlington Primary Care Trust believe a contributory factor could be working women not wanting to take time off or mothers having childcare issues.
An out-of-hours service is being provided for the next three months at the PCT’s headquarters in King Street. Practice nurses and staff have volunteered to work extra hours for the by-invitation- only clinics, on a Saturday from 9am to 1pm and Tuesday, 5.30 to 8pm.
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