Quality standards for cervical screening

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(Quality Assurance guidelines NHSCSP  -UK 1996)

Objective	Measurement	Acceptable value
To minimise risk of invasive cervical cancer	Screen  women aged 25 – 64 at least once every 5yrs	80%coverage of women aged 25-64
To ensure effective sampling of Transformation zone	Cytological evidence of T-Z Sampling	80% of smears contain metaplastic cells
To ensure accuracy of smear reporting	Sensitivity of primary screening with respect to final report for all negative or inadequate smear	85-95%(see next slide for method of calculation)
To ensure accuracy of smear reporting	Determine Positive Predictive value for HSIL	65-90% for HSIL or worse (see next slide for method of calculation)
To ensure all personnel are competent to screen & report  cervical smears	All staff  are certified  for screening and participate in  continuing professional education	100% staff have acceptable performance