THE ONLY LAB that processes CervicalCheck samples in Ireland is still not back to business over five months on from a “temporary pause” in March of this year, due to accreditation issues.
Campaigner Vicky Phelan, who died last year with cervical cancer, strongly advocated for CervicalCheck samples being processed in Ireland, rather than abroad.
The Journal understands that staff working in women’s health services, who take CervicalCheck samples, were informed that the continued delay was due to staffing issues.
However, the HSE said the staffing in National Cervical Screening laboratory (NCSL) in Coombe Hospital is now at the appropriate level “for the number of samples expected to be processed when the laboratory resumes work upon reaccreditation”.
“The recruitment of staff, from administration assistants to histopathologists, is a priority,” they added.
A HSE spokesperson said that the lab is continuing to pause HPV and cytology sample processing for CervicalCheck, as “outstanding documents are being filed”.
They added that once the documents have been filed, and the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) restores the lab’s accreditation, it will recommence processing immediately.
In the meantime, Irish CervicalCheck samples continue to be processed by an American laboratory the HSE outsources the work to.
A HSE spokesperson said that Quest Diagnostics Inc in the USA processes samples in the same way, and that women and their GPs are receiving their results “within the usual timeframe”.
Once the Irish lab has its accreditation restored, it will return to processing 10% of CervicalCheck programme samples.
The long term aim of the HSE is for the Coombe Hospital lab to become the main processor of CervicalCheck samples, but a spokesperson said that reaching that point “will take time”.
Recruitment of “skilled staff” is a key component in this goal being fulfilled.
“Recruitment of skilled staff will be a top priority for several years as the NCSL increases the number of CervicalCheck samples it receives. .
“A key factor for the immediate and long-term success of the NCSL is the availability and recruitment of cytopathology staff, namely consultant cytopathologists, in the face of increased market demand and the continued decline of the cytology industry in Ireland and globally,” a HSE spokesperson explained.
They added that engagement is currently taking place with stakeholders across the health service to ensure that the NCSL will have a “suitable supply of qualified staff to facilitate its increasing workload in the years ahead”.
“This includes engagement with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s Faculty of Pathology to introduce a post-Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training fellowship, and include cervical cytology in the histopathology training curriculum,” the spokesperson said.
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