Everything that happens at a cervical screening appointment explained by doctor

Each year, millions of people attend cervical screening appointments to help prevent cervical cancer, the most common cancer in women under 35 years old. However, many don’t come forward and miss out on the potentially life-saving appointments.
The NHS offers free cervical screening to women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 64. As the NHS website explains: “It's your choice if you want to go for cervical screening. But cervical screening is one of the best ways to protect you from cervical cancer.”
What’s more, over 99% of cervical cancer is preventable, according to the Lady Garden Foundation. This is a national charity raising awareness and funding for the five gynaecological cancers.
While it’s normal to feel nervous about attending a medical appointment, understanding what’s happening might help you feel more comfortable about the process. It should take no longer than ten minutes.
Below, John Butler, Consultant Gynaecological Oncology Surgeon at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Medical Director of The Lady Garden Foundation, has shared a step-by-step list explaining what happens during a cervical screening appointment.
Cervical screening appointments take no more than 10 minutes. When you arrive, you will be introduced to either a nurse or doctor and they will explain what cervical screening is and answer any questions you may have. In your cervical screening appointment a small amount of your cervical cells are taken and tested for HPV.
If you’re nervous, that’s normal. Medical appointments can be uncomfortable and off putting but they are incredibly important to attend - it may save your life.
You will be asked to undress from the waist down and given a sheet to put over you. The nurse/doctor will ask you to lie back on a bed with your feet spread apart.
The nurse/doctor will then ask if you are comfortable. If you are comfortable, they will gently put a speculum into your vagina (A speculum is a rounded plastic tube. If you are feeling any pain or discomfort - please let your doctor know). To make yourself more comfortable, you can ask for a smaller speculum or to change positions to be on your side. Remember, you can stop the test at any time.
Once the speculum is in place, the doctor/nurse will open it so that they can see your cervix. Once they can see it they will take a small sample of cells from your cervix.
The doctor/nurse will take the speculum out and give you privacy to get changed in private.
Your results will be sent from the screening service to you and your GP by letter and will be available on the NHS app.
Jenny Halpern Prince MBE, Charity Chair and Co-founder of the Lady Garden Foundation, said: “At the Lady Garden Foundation, we are committed to increasing the uptake of cervical screenings by breaking down barriers that prevent people from accessing these potentially life-saving appointments. 99.8% of cervical cancer is preventable and so we urge all women and people with a cervix to attend their cervical screening appointment.”
The Lady Garden Foundation is a national gynaecological health charity. Founded in 2014, the charity funded research into the treatment of ovarian, cervical, womb (uterus), vulval, and vaginal cancers at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
A spokesperson added: "Today, and every day, 60 women in the UK will receive the life-changing news of a gynaecological cancer diagnosis, and 21 people will die from one of these cancers. Many of the symptoms are ’silent’, meaning they are often diagnosed too late." More information is available from the NHS and the Lady Garden Foundation.
Daily Express