Programs - Cervical Screening
This page provides information on the cervical screening program.
Cervical screening is intended to stop deaths from cervical cancer.
The Pap test is a screening test, not a diagnostic test.
All women should be tested regularly to check for changes in the cells of the cervix.
If changes are found, they can be monitored, and if needed further investigated and treated well before cancer develops.
Guidelines
The National Cervical Screening Program provides guidelines on which women need screening and how often Pap tests should be performed. It states:
- Routine screening with Pap smears should be carried out every two years for women who have no symptoms or history suggestive of cervical pathology.
- All women who have ever been sexually active should start having Pap smears between the ages of 18 and 20 years, or one or two years after first having sexual intercourse, whichever is later.
- Pap smears may cease at the age of 70 years for women who have had two normal Pap smears within the last five years. Women over 70 years who have never had a Pap smear, or who request a Pap smear, should be screened.
MBS item numbers
The Cervical Screening Incentive consists of the following components;
- Sign-on Payment: One-off payment to PIP practices that engage with the state/territory Cervical Screening Registers.
- Outcomes Payment: Payment to PIP practices where a specified proportion of women aged between 20 and 69 years has been screened in the last 30 months
- Services Incentive Payment: A payment to practitioners working within a PIP practice for screening women between 20 and 69 years, who have not had a cervical smear within the last four years.
What can the Division offer?
The Cervical Screening program can assist GPs to
- The Division supports local GPs in increasing the rate of cervical screening
- Assist GPs and their practice staff by implementing an effective recall and reminder system using the software in their practice.
- Assist GPs to access the NSW Pap Test register to obtain the list of patients who are overdue for a Pap test.
- Access Nurse and GP incentives
Information for health professionals
National Cervical Screening Program
http://www.cancerscreening.gov.au/
NHMRC Screening to prevent cervical cancer: guidelines for the management of asymptomatic women with screen-detected abnormalities
http://nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/wh39syn.htm
More information
Please contact the Division