Inadequate smears are not always due to poor technique

BMJ 1995;311:1168 (28 October)

Letters

Inadequate smears are not always due to poor technique

EDITOR,--F Azeem Majeed and Simon Voss suggest that the creationof certain performance indicators by family health servicesauthorities may benefit general practitioners by exposing areasin which their practice deviates from the norm and in whichfurther investigation or audit may therefore be appropriate.¹They give as an example the proportion of cervical smears thatare technically unsuitable for examination.

Just such an audit by Sefton Medical Audit Advisory Group hashighlighted a problem with the single code provided for suchsmears by the cervical cytology form HMR101/5/C and the effectthat this may have on general practitioners' ability to attaincytology targets. Mandatory use of the form limits laboratoriesto using code 1 ("inadequate specimen") in box 22 ("cytologicalpattern") to report all smears that, for whatever reason, areunsuitable for screening. Under this system, smears that aretruly inadequate (because they are scanty, air dried, or from. . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Performance indicators for general practice: F Azeem Majeed and Simon Voss
BMJ 1995 311: 209-210. [Extract] [Full Text]

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