Improving access to cervical screening

Living Well cervical screening pilot

To try to understand the barriers people face in coming forward for their cervical screening, NHS England North West carried out some insight work in Cheshire and Merseyside, Lancashire and South Cumbria, which found access and flexibility of appointment times and venues to be one of the main obstacles.

Working with system partners to find a solution to these barriers, NHS England North West commissioned pilot projects to test ways how access and uptake of cervical screening across Cheshire and Merseyside and Lancashire and South Cumbria can be improved to support more individuals to take up the offer of screening.

The first of the pilots ran in Sefton from July to August 2024, which saw screening offered in a mobile screening unit – the Living Well Bus hosted by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership – at various locations with the aim of making access to screening more convenient. A total of 249 screenings were performed, with 35% of those screened being overdue their screening or non-responders, and 10% attending for the first time.

The pilot has now been extended to Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens, Halton and Crewe and will run through January to March 2025. The service is a walk-in service, without the need to book an appointment. Women and people with a cervix who have missed their cervical screening are being invited to take up the offer at a location near them.