Hi all
I have read on here that some women have had their previous smear tests audited. I did ask this at my 2nd appointment with the gynaecologist but he said to ask the woman who performed by colposcopy ( I don’t remember her name and it was in the women’s day clinic at the hospital). I thought it would be my GP I would ask seen as the smears were performed at their practice? Can anyone advise?
I just want to know if it was missed as like some others my mind boggles as to how I went from normal results to cc in 3 years when they say it is slow growing. I know I am lucky to have had previous smears as I am 26 and managed to get one at 20 and then at 23 as I live in Scotland but I think they are away to change it to fall in line with England soon.
Any advice appreciated, thank you 
I sometimes think about having my case looked at as I went from an apparently clear smear in march 2013 to stage 4a in November 2015. this was after about 18months of visiting my GP for gynaecological problems . I'm sure mistakes were made but I don't want to go through it all atm .
Hi,
Mine was done automatically by the oncology team but I think they knew from the outset there had been a balls up as I'd been on 6 monthly to annual recalls for 4/5 years and nothing has been picked up only to find I had stage 1b1.
I'd ask your oncologist, it may well be getting done already. It takes approx 6 months although I had to wait a year before I got my meeting with all the findings.
if you had adenocarcinoma, the cells are higher up in the cervix so harder to sample when having a smear.
hope that helps a little
Hi thank you for your replies!
Philleepa - Thank you for sharing, I can totally see why you may not want to think about it, I am sorry that you went from nothing to stage 4 that makes my request to know more seem a bit insignificant.. I can see why you wouldn't necessarily want to go through that atm. x
pegasus84 - thank you for your reply. The Dr just said see me in 3 months for a follow up so I dunno whether to just ask then? Seems like a while to wait. Wow 6 months is a long time to check a couple of smears but I am sure they must have a big workload. I just kinda want some answers as I remember at my smear in 2013 the nurse saying something about inflammation but then my smear came back normal and I thought nothing more of it so now I am questioninig why a) I didn't ask her what that meant and b) why she didn't look into it furtehr and was it recorded on my medical records. I had the squamous type but after the cone they saw some CGIN developing further up.. so guess I had both but one hadn't developed into cc.x
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Well you could write a letter to your doctor requesting an audit of your smears. You won't have to wait until your appointment and sometimes a formal letter is more likely to get something moving.
What happens if it does turn out that there were mistakes made? Do you sue? I'm in the US and people sue everyone here for everything, so I'm curious if that's what would happen in the UK.
love t x
Hi TeresaF
I may just do that, I hate phone calls so a letter is maybe more appropriate. I am not looking to get anyone into trouble and I have been with my medical practice for all my life.. I am at the point where I am sad that I have been sensible and attended all of smears and that this wasn't picked up. Now I feel like I will be walking on egg shells the rest of my life worrying about cancer. Obviously if things were missed then maybe I would be angry and want to put in a formal complaint but I certainly don't have the money to be suing anyone myself.. x
Hi Misstell We have a central registry that collects all pap smear data regardless of who took it. I requested mine and received history for the last 20 years. I had a smear 2 years and 4 months before my diagnosis and ended up with a 1b2/2b2 A central registry is a great idea as they also send you reminders Jayne. .
Hi Jayneeb
Aw i see, are you based in the US? x
No Misstell I am in Australia. I feel like it's a little satellite of the UK as there are sooo many of you over here.
Hi,
i was informed by the consultant gave me the news of my diagnosis that the audit would be started automatically. I think you should follow up with your hospital team as it is my understanding that the audit is a compulsory thing which should happen after cancer is found. However from talking to my solicitor it appears that hospitals aren't always as transparent about this process as mine has been.
Good luck!
x
Hi Jayne
Aw ok no worries! Thank you for your help x
Hi Mad-muskrat
Ok I may get in touch with the hospital then. Yeah I just want to know and was kinda annoyed the 1st consultant I saw brushed it off. Thankfully I was seen by the top Dr after that so would feel better asking him when I see him but 3 months seems like a long time to wait..x
Hi misstell
I was diagnosed with 2B squamous cell cancer in July. The consultant who performed the colposcopy sorted out the audit after I questioned how my cancer developed after receiving clear smear test results just 1 year prior to my diagnosis. The whole audit took 4 months and apparently that's roughly how long the process takes for everyone.
If you are wanting to find out the results of your audit I suggest that you give the hospital a call to chase them up on it. It doesn't matter if you don't remember the name of the person who did your colposcopy. I'm sure they have everything on record. I've heard that some hostpitals are more forthcoming about sharing the results than others so you might want to give them a little push hun.
xx
xx
Hi Nell
Ok great, thank you so much for your help x
