Cervical cancer survivor says mistrust in Irish screening is costing lives

Kim Hanly (35) had her life saved through the Irish national healthcare cervical screening process at the age of 26 years old. Kim advocates for more cervical screening uptake, better understanding and continual learning from all doctors - male and female - and a greater push from health authorities to reassure women and reinstate confidence for women's health. She warns the Scally report, by Dr Gabriel Scally, which uncovered severe failings which led to the death of dozens of women has created distrust in the screening on offer, despite a new and vigorous screening now for women in Ireland. After the Scoping Inquiry was published in September 2018, the then-Government accepted all 53 recommendations made by Scally, and published an implementation plan on 11 December 2018. Scally was to oversee its implementation. Of the 170 actions that needed to be taken to implement the 53 recommendations made by Scally in that report, 148 have now been implemented in full. Of the outstanding 22 actions, 12 are marked ‘in progress’, eight are marked as ‘overdue to finish’ and two ‘overdue to start’ at end 2020.