National Cervical Screening Program: self-collection eligibility expansion

From Friday 1 July 2022, the National Cervical Screening Program will expand Cervical Screening Test options, offering self-collection as a choice to all people participating in cervical screening. All people with a cervix aged 25 – 74 years will have the choice to screen using either self-collected vaginal sample or a clinician collected sample from the cervix, access through a healthcare provider in both cases. These changes mean that you may start to see an increase in the volume of requests from patients to use self-collection as an option for their Cervical Screening Test.


How can you support cervical screening self-collection in your General Practice?

  • Healthcare providers continue to play a central and critical role in the NCSP, in assessing patient risk and using clinical judgement to recommend testing and follow-up.
  • Healthcare providers will still need to offer a consultation for cervical screening whether it be a self-collected vaginal sample or clinician-collected cervical sample. Healthcare providers are best placed to talk with patients about cervical screening and determine the best screening option.
  • Healthcare providers will need to explain to patients how to collect a self-collected sample from the vagina and provide the correct swabs for collection of the sample.
  • Healthcare providers must provide patients with clear information about the likelihood that HPV may be detected and, if so, what follow-up will be required.
  • Where self-collection is chosen, patients attending an in-person consultation should be encouraged to collect their sample while still at the clinic, as sample collection is considered more likely in this context. However, with the aim to maximise participation in cervical screening, collection of the sample can occur in any setting that the healthcare provider ordering the test believes is appropriate, including in the context of a telehealth consultation.
  • Wherever a patient takes their sample, the healthcare provider remains responsible for sending the sample to the pathology laboratory for processing and for informing patients of results and any follow-up required.

What can you do to get ready?

  • Contact your local pathology laboratory to confirm the correct swab type for self-collected samples and any other handling/processing considerations.
  • Gain access to the National Cancer Screening Register via PRODA or your clinical software to view and update your patients screening history. The PHN has created a NCSR User Access Guide to assist you and your practice the Register which is available in the PHN Resource section.
  • Review the National Cervical Screening Guidelines
  • Attend the upcoming ‘Cervical Screening in General Practice education session hosted by RACGP (details below).


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