Some ladies are ready nearly a yr for diagnostic checks after irregular cells had been discovered throughout smears. Labour’s well being spokeswoman Jackie Baillie mentioned ladies had been being put by means of “emotional turmoil” on prolonged ready lists for pressing remedy.
Following a Freedom of Info request by Baillie, it emerged ladies discovered to have irregular cells throughout routine smear checks are dealing with a postcode lottery for follow-up remedy. The common look forward to a colposcopy – a process to look at the cervix following the invention of irregular cells – in 2021 was between two and 22 weeks, with the longest simply in need of a yr.
However the place seems to be worsening, with the newest figures from NHS Higher Glasgow and Clyde saying routine colposcopies at the moment are averaging 37 weeks. In 2021, the longest look forward to a colposcopy in NHS GG&C was 312 days – nearly a yr – with different lengthy waits in NHS Dumfries & Galloway of as much as 296 days, NHS Ayrshire & Arran of as much as 278 days and NHS Lanarkshire, 212 days.
Gynaecological scanning can be gradual and Baillie has had complaints from ladies who've been instructed they'll get appointments in eight weeks however then get letters days later saying the wait is extra more likely to be 30 weeks. Baillie, mentioned: “It's unacceptable that girls are dealing with longer waits for follow-up appointments simply due to the place they dwell.”
Lynn Williams, 52, from Paisley, has waited six months for a scan after she had a post-menopausal bleed in March. She had an analogous bleed in 2020 however solely waited two weeks then for a scan. Lynn mentioned: “I don’t know why ladies’s well being points all the time appear to be behind the queue.”
The Scottish Authorities was approached for remark.
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