Inadequate smears are not always due to poor technique

doi:10.1136/bmj.311.7013.1168

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Andrea Tree,
Paul Mansour

Facilitator Sefton Medical Audit Advisory Group, c/o Sefton Family Health Services Authority, Waterloo, Merseyside L22 0QB
Consultant in histopathology and cytopathology Southport and Formby NHS Trust, General Infirmary, Southport, Merseyside PR8 6PH

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

Just such an audit …