More than 2,300 women still waiting for repeat smear test results

A US laboratory used by CervicalCheck has rechecked just 7% of re-submitted smear tests.

It means that around 2,370 women are still waiting for repeat test results, despite being promised priority testing and results within four to six weeks.

At the end of January, CervicalCheck wrote to 4,459 women inviting them to have a repeat smear test.

It followed an issue with HPV (human papillomavirus) tests that were carried out beyond the 30-day recommended timeframe by Quest Diagnostics in the US between 2015 and 2018.

These HPV tests are secondary tests and were carried out on test samples where minor abnormalities (low grade) or changes in the cells of the cervix were detected.

There is no issue with the first findings of the cervical screening tests.

Since early February, 2,572 repeat smear test samples were sent to Quest.

The Health Service Executive has said that the first slides were received by Quest on 8 February and they have been coming in incrementally since.

As of this week, just 200 results have been reported back by Quest to women, which represents 7% of the number who sought retesting.

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In a statement, the HSE/CervicalCheck said that a Quest information technology system for dealing with the repeat tests took longer than expected.

"Quest are confident that the remaining results will be reported to women within the next two weeks", the HSE said.

The CervicalCheck website said at the time that the tests would be a priority and would be processed within four to six weeks from the time the smear test was carried out.

It also said that the HPV retest results were unlikely to be different from the original test result.

In its statement, HSE/CervicalCheck said that its clinical team was and is assured that the HPV tests were likely to remain effective outside of the manufacturer's recommended timeframe.

It said that the risk of incorrect results was low, but in order to provide complete reassurance, it invited the women to attend for a repeat smear test.