women should not be bullied into test

These tests can save your life, dont ignore the appointment letters

\"i had one test 15 year ago and still feel deeply depressed about it \"

The original poster had a medical experience during a supposedly routine screening procedure that was sufficiently traumatic that she's still upset about it over a decade later....and your advice is to \"not ignore the letters\". Well, that's really really useful isn't it? What other pearls of wisdom do you have? Let me guess. Will you go for the \"what about Jade Goody?\" option? or the \"do you WANT to die of cancer you stupid girl?\" option? Because being patronising, dismissive and rude is obviously the way to get women to cooperate with an intimate examination, right? It appears to be the official policy of the Cervical Screening Programme, anyway.

It's certainly not a thing I like to have done and have in the past had to go through 3 tests because the nurse didn't get enough cells, but it is something that only takes a short time and if the original poster of this thread had a bad experience it can take time to get over it but if she told the gp about it I'm sure that someone with a lot of experience of doing these test would put her at ease and the test could be done - she spoke about men not having to have their bits felt but my husband had to have fingers inserted up his bottom for a check of his prostrate and he said it felt like the dr had put his whole arm up there so that is not a pleasant test for men to have.

Anything that involves us showing our private parts can be quite humiliating and we put these off for a long time - I had problems with my bowel and it took me a long time to go to the gp about it and the thought of having a colonoscopy was very off putting but I went through it and fortunately for me had polyps removed which could have given me bowel cancer, which my father died with. I now have incontinence and still haven't done anything about it, but will have to go soon and get over the embarrassment of it all and get something done otherwise I'll be one of those old people who smell of fish :lol:

Sorry for the rant but people should just get over their hang ups and get tested.

Hi, just to let you know that you can have your name removed from the cervical screening programme if you find it very upsetting to receive these letters. You need to write to your GP requesting a form which you will need to sign. Then the local screening authorirty will probably ask you to sign a further disclaimer. I did this myself and was very angry to have to go to these lengths but it was worth it and I've never ever regretted it.

This whole experience has obviously really upset you and at the end of the day, you need to ask yourself if all this distess is worth it. I don't understand why the medical profession ignores the psychological cost to women of this programme when clearly, it is very real. I hope that this burden will leave you soon. God bless you.

\"I don't understand why the medical profession ignores the psychological cost to women\"

If you think having a smear test is a distressing experience, think about what it's like to have a hysterectomy. I had one two years ago because I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer.

If they had told me all the consequences of the operation I would never have gone through with it. I'd rather die of cancer than live like this for the rest of my life.

And yes, my depression is just one of the results of this \"life saving\" surgery.

Just to say, I know loads of women feel exactly the same about you getting screened, and quite anxious about the whole experience, which is fair enough, especially if you have a male doctor, but also if your first experience is bad it makes your next ten times harder. But you can ask for a female doctor, with all stuff like that, it may mean you may not be able to be seen as quickly but at least that get it done, and it's a perfectly legitimate request to make.

Or even if you're still not sure you could always book an appointment to see a female doctor just to have a quick chat about and the proceedure and stuff like that, I think it's worth looking into.

I hope that helps!

I think that there is some really important and valid discussion about cervical screening here, on both sides of the issue. I do agree wholeheartedly with many of the negative comments, especially with regard to forced compliance. I was certainly bullied into my first test despite the fact that, as someone with a doctorate and from a medical background, I had decided that I would benefit from starting screening later due to my unlikelihood of exposure to high-risk strains of HPV, which according to Cancer Research UK are linked to 99.7 % of cervical cancers; the practice's response was 'we will simply phone you again tomorrow; we're like a terrier with this - we never let it go'. This contravenes directly the NHS's (supposed!) policy of free informed choice, and it is incredibly frustrating on principle. I also think that the leaflet 'Cervical Screening: The Facts' is somewhat out-of-touch, most especially with regard to the emotional difficulties that many women experience, causing further alienation and disillusionment.

I believe that the most important thing is informed, considered choice, and this must be respected (I do find it interesting that virtually all the negative responses here have been rated badly by other users). In this, practitioners play such a significant role, and they really need to try to respond to individual patients as far as possible. The nurse at my first test was lovely; she was very gentle, patient and communicative, responding sensitively to the fact that I'm very shy and found the procedure extremely difficult to get through. Although I felt embarrassed, I did feel supported and confident in her, and, consequently, confident in my participation in the programme. Yesterday, at my own volition I decided to accept my second invitation at another practice, partly on the basis of my former experience. It couldn't have been more different. The nurse was impatient, told me to undress as soon as I walked into the room in place of any kind of greeting, did not offer any kind of explanation or reassurance, and ignored my request that I would like to sit, fully-clothed and in the dignity of a chair, and have a brief chat beforehand to calm my nerves! Instead, I ended up on the bed physically shaking, whilst she snapped 'For God's sake, how do you expect to have children?'. I think her attitude is such a shame. Whatever people feel about other individuals' opinions about screening, respect and consideration are paramount.

I certainly hate the invasion of a pap test as much as everyone out there.  But I'm glad I had the last one, especially since I already knew I had cervical dysplasia and cancer in situ.  The lab tech who viewed the smear from my pap notified my Doc that there was Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) visible, although I had not noticed symptoms. Sadly that is probably a good heads up for me since BV often becomes a biofilm resistant to anti-biotics.  I am now tackling that to restore my normal vaginal flora and a healthy condition.  I hope to avoid a hysterectomy, metastesized cancer, or worse.  While there are some miss diagnosies and errors, perhaps you can request a second test to verify.  Also it sounds as though you would be much more comfortable with a woman doctor. I've had both good and bad docs, but don't let it cost you your health/life.  Best wishes

The problem with the cervical screening programme in the UK is that it mis-informs women in order to keep the screening figures high, and I find this totally unethical. It is wrong to deliberately mis-inform women about a test, just to get them to agree to it. Women need to be told that only those who are HPV positive have the remote possibility of it developing into cancer, and HPV tests have been available online for years now. 

The other fact the programme fails to explain is that there are different types of cervical cancer, and the smear test is only useful for the squamous cell type, which is slow growing and affects older women. The young women who die from this disease have the adenocarcinoma type, for which the smear test is useless. None of this is made clear, and the NHS has a duty to correctly inform women about these facts, but it does not, because it fears falling attendance at screening. 

Patients must be told the truth.