Written Assembly Questions tabled on 9 June 2016 for answer on 16 June 2016
R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.
(Self-identifying question no. shown in brackets)
Written Questions must be tabled at least five working days before they are to be answered. In practice, Ministers aim to answer within seven/eight days but are not bound to do so. Answers are published in the language in which they are provided, with a translation into English of responses provided in Welsh.
To ask the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): What assessment has the Minister made of the impact that increased uptake of cervical screening among women over 50 would have on incidence of cervical cancer in this age group? (WAQ70389)
Answer received on 16 June 2016
The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport (Vaughan Gething): Cervical cancer screening has a significant impact on reducing cervical cancer incidence and incidence rates have fallen considerably since the inception of Cervical Screening Wales. A recent report by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) estimated the incidence of invasive cervical cancer in women aged 50-64 in Wales would be nearly four times higher were it not for the screening programme.
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): What assessment has the Minister made of the barriers to increasing uptake of cervical screening among women over 50? (WAQ70390)
Answer received on 16 June 2016
Vaughan Gething: The Screening Engagement team of Public Health Wales is working with local Public Health Teams, Health Boards and Primary Care clusters to consider cervical screening uptake in each region and plan specific activities to improve uptake.
Cervical screening remains a priority for the Welsh Government, as demonstrated by the implementation of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) test of cure* across Wales over the last 18 months and the roll out of HPV triage** from May 2016. These developments will result in fewer colposcopies and repeat smears being undertaken, and as a consequence we anticipate this will have a positive impact on uptake rates.
*Women who have had treatment for abnormal smears are now tested for HPV when they have a follow up smear six months later. If the HPV test is negative they will be called for a smear again in three years, rather than being invited back for colposcopy or annual follow up smears (which could have continued for up to 10 years).
**Women who have a low grade abnormality on their smear currently have two or three repeat smears before being either referred to colposcopy or returned to normal recall. Adding a HPV test to the first abnormal smear will identify women who need immediate referral and those who can safely remain on normal recall.
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): What discussions has the Minister had with public health bodies to increase cervical screening uptake amongst women over 50? (WAQ70391)
Answer received on 16 June 2016
Vaughan Gething: Coverage of cervical screening across Wales is very close to the target of 80%. Overall coverage rates in 2014/15 saw a slight drop (78% in 2014/15 from 78.4% in 2013-14), in line with the trend seen in other countries. Participation among the over 50s remains high. Coverage for women aged 50-64 was 76.3% in 2014/15 compared to 76.8% in 2013/14.
We know that cervical screening saves lives and we have tasked Public Health Wales, who are responsible for the delivery of the national population screening programmes in Wales, to meet and exceed the performance targets set for Cervical Screening Wales.
As an NHS Trust, Public Health Wales is part of the wider NHS planning and performance system and the organisation’s delivery framework and Integrated Medium Term Plan include key actions and service performance indicators for Cervical Screening Wales.
Performance is scrutinised on a number of levels, including periodic ministerial meetings with the Chair of Public Health Wales, bi-annual joint executive team meetings between Welsh Government and Public Health Wales’ executives and more frequent meetings with policy officials.
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Welsh Government outline what the incidence rate of cervical cancer was for women over 50 in each of the last 10 years for which data is available? (WAQ70392)
Answer received on 16 June 2016
Vaughan Gething: The Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU) is the National Cancer Registry for Wales. It records, stores and reports on all incidence of cancer for the resident population of Wales wherever they are treated. I attach a link to the WCISU website, which contains both data tables and interactive tools on cervical cancer incidence: http://www.wcisu.wales.nhs.uk/home
To ask the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): What discussions has the Minister held with the UK Government regarding voter turnout in the Welsh Assembly elections and, in particular, poor voter turnout in Alyn and Deeside? (WAQ70388)
Answer received on 14 June 2016
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government (Mark Drakeford): I have not held any discussions with the UK Government regarding voter turnout. The Electoral Commission has a duty to report on all elections and will produce a report on the 2016 Welsh Assembly elections including voters’ experience.