Nervous wait for patients as colposcopy referrals triple

Patients forced to wait or go private after positive cervical screening test
Jocelyn Wright
­Professor Annabelle Farnsworth.
­Professor Annabelle Farnsworth.

Women referred for colposcopy after a positive cervical screening test face a ‘nerve-racking’ wait or are paying to go private as referrals swamp the public system, doctors say.

An analysis of primary HPV testing outcomes from a major laboratory shows colposcopy referrals to the public system tripled in the first half of last year.