Cervical screening is done to help to find any abnormal cells before symptoms develop. Screening picks up early cell changes before they can turn into cancer, allowing any treatment required to begin as soon as possible.

Though many people who develop cervical cancer have no symptoms, there are some key symptoms to look out for, including bleeding between periods, low tummy pain, bleeding after sex and bleeding after the menopause. If you develop any of these please contact your GP practice.

You can request a female nurse or doctor to do your cervical screening.

You can also take a friend to act as a chaperone, regardless of whether it is a male or female doing your screen. A chaperone is somebody who is in the room during the procedure to help put you at ease and make you more comfortable.

Please let the receptionist at your GP practice know if you would prefer a female nurse or doctor or would like a chaperone.

It's advisable not to have your screening done during your period, as a heavy flow can affect the accuracy of the test.

However, many people have irregular periods, for instance if they have polycystic ovary syndrome, fibroids, or are perimenopausal, and not everyone can predict when their period will start.

In that case it's best to discuss this when booking your appointment.

No, they wouldn’t have done. It is recommended to wait 12 weeks after having a baby to do the test.

Yes, please attend your cervical screening when invited. The number of sexual partners does not determine whether you develop cervical changes. You can have sex with only one partner but still get the HPV virus. This is why taking up your screening invitation is so important.

Yes, it's important to still go for your cervical screening even if you have not had penetrative vaginal sex. Other types of sexual activity, such as oral sex, can lead to getting the HPV virus.

Yes, it is important to go for a cervical screening even if you have not had sex with a man.

Everybody with a cervix should be screened when invited. If you’re registered as male at your GP surgery, you may not automatically be invited to a screening, so may need to ask.

This can happen in older patients who are menopausal or have vaginal atrophy, or people with conditions such as vaginismus, vulval lichen sclerosis, or certain types of endometriosis.

If you have had pain during a previous cervical screen, or you have any pre-diagnosed condition, then please let the nurse or the doctor know. There may be options that can be offered to make the test more comfortable.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of over 100 related viruses. It’s extremely common, with around 7 in 10 people getting infected at some stage in their lives.

HPV is usually, but not always, passed on through skin-to-skin sexual activity. Certain types of the HPV virus, called high risk HPV, can cause cervical cell changes that can lead to certain types of cancer, including cervical cancer. The cervical screening test looks for signs of high risk HPV.

At the moment, it is still advisable to take part in cervical screening. Though the current vaccine will slow down any cervical cell changes caused by HPV, the protection offered is not yet lifelong, although it may be in future.

If your final three screening tests in the 15 years running up to turning 65 have been a negative result, then you will not receive any further invitations after this age.

If you have had an abnormal screening result in that time, you will continue to be invited until you either have three tests showing no abnormal cells or have a clear (negative) HPV test.

Once your periods have stopped completely, if you experience symptoms such as bleeding, pain or bleeding after sexual intercourse, lower tummy pain, or a vaginal discharge that has an orange or a pink hue to it, please contact your GP practice to discuss this further.

All medicines (including vaccines) are tested for safety and efficacy (how well a vaccine prevents illness during testing) before they’re allowed to be used. Once they’re in use, the safety and effectiveness (how well a vaccine prevents illness once it is being used within a population) of vaccines continues to be carefully monitored by many organisations including:

• The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

• The European Medicines Agency (EMA)

• The World Health Organisations (WHO) Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS)
  

For more information on safety and side effects: https://vaccineknowledge.ox.ac.uk/hpv-vaccine#Safety-and-side-effects

Since the HPV vaccine was first introduced in 2006, more than 280 million doses have been given worldwide and rates of cervical cancer have dropped by 90%.

Since the start of the vaccination programme in the UK, there has been a big decline in HPV infections and in the number of young people with genital warts.

In time, it is expected that the vaccine will save hundreds of lives every year in the UK.

As well as protecting girls against cervical cancer, the vaccine protects everyone against several other types of cancer, including some mouth and throat cancers; and some cancers of the anal and genital areas. It also protects against genital warts.

The HPV vaccine is now offered as a single dose.

The vaccine is offered in school to 11-13 year olds. School vaccination teams will be coming into schools to deliver the vaccine in the Summer Term.

The HPV vaccine is available for free from the NHS for under 25s.

If you are 16 or under, you can visit a catch-up clinic. If you are 17-25, check with your GP if they are offering the HPV vaccine.