The NHS Cervical Screening Programme saves thousands of lives every year by detecting abnormal cells in the cervix that could develop into cancer, if left untreated.

How often people need to have cervical screening is changing in England from 1st July 2025. Improvements in HPV testing enables the NHS to now offer a more personalised approach to preventing cervical cancer, which means those identified as lower risk won’t need to be screened as frequently, and those at higher risk will continue to be monitored more regularly.

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causes nearly all cervical cancers. Since December 2019 all cervical screening samples taken in England have been tested for high-risk HPV. It is a more sensitive and accurate test than the previous method and is the best way to find out who is at higher risk of developing the cell changes that over time could lead to cervical cancer.

At the moment, in England, women and people with a cervix aged 25-49 years are routinely invited for screening every 3 years. Now we have this better test for HPV, the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) has recommended that those testing negative, and with no recent history of HPV, won’t need to come for a cervical screening quite so often – every 5 years instead of every 3. If your cervical screening shows you have HPV, you may be invited for more frequent screenings to check HPV has cleared and if not, if any cell changes have developed.

This change is strongly backed by robust scientific evidence. Studies have shown that if a person tests negative for HPV they are extremely unlikely to go on to develop cervical cancer within the next 10 years. Research published by King’s College London showed that 5-yearly screening is as safe as 3-yearly; the same number of cancers will be prevented and less frequent cervical screening tests are needed.

This move brings England into line with Scotland and Wales who have introduced this change, and with women aged 50 – 64 who are already invited every 5 years.

The positive impact of the HPV vaccination is also starting to be seen, with studies in England showing that the HPV vaccine stops 90% of cervical cancer cases. The latest HPV vaccine type introduced in the UK in 2021 is predicted to further reduce cases of women’s cancer and HPV attributable deaths by 16% and 9%, compared to the previous vaccine type.

For women aged 25-49 who have had a cervical smear before 1 July 2025, routine screening will continue every three years. Following that smear, if all tests are negative, the screening interval will change to every five years, unless HPV is detected.

We are experiencing a high number of patients confirming steroid and minor operation appointments however on the day are not attending or stating they have changed their mind and do not need the appointment that was scheduled.

We have a waiting list for these appointments specifically and we would appreciate that for any reason you are unable to attend or decide against the procedure that you let reception know as soon as possible so the appointment can be utilised. 

A missed appointment is an expense to the NHS and denies others treatment.

Thank you for your cooperation with this.

Do you require assitance or support when attending hospital appointments? 

The volunteer services at KGH are offering a Meet and Greet service.

This new service is designed to support patients upon arrival at the hospital - please note it is soley on-site assitance and does not include transport from patients' home addresses. 

Volunteers will help patients locate departments and, if needed, provide wheelchair support (subject to availability). The aim is to enhance each patient's experience by offering a warm welcome for a smooth hospital visit. 

Please call 01536 491599 to book this service.

Following recent communications regarding our new appointment system, please take a few moments to watch a short message from Dr Naomi Pawlik, Senior Partner.  It is very important that you register with Anima to facilitate your appointment booking

What is the new appointment booking system at HFS?
Anima is a software package (NHS England approved) that Harborough Field Surgery, following due diligence, will be using to help deal with patient clinical and administrative requests.  For those who are able to use the internet, you will be able to submit your symptoms and wait for the Practice to respond which means no more waiting on hold to speak to someone.  You will be able to track your requests as well as view your appointments, find local services that are able to help you and submit requests for sick notes.

Patients unable to access the internet or don’t have access to an email can always contact us via telephone. We appreciate that not everyone can use this system and our team will still be here to help you and complete the Anima form on your behalf.  Our team will be contacting our most vulnerable patients to assist with the set up process.

You can undertake the requests on behalf of others via proxy access i.e. a guardian to a child under the age of 16 or someone you might care for.

This is also in line with the NHS England vision of the “Modern General Practice” Model, which requests Practices to move away from the 8am rush on the telephone and use different types of methods for patients to receive advice.

Why is HFS implementing this?
General Practice across the country is in crisis with the increase in demand.  In the last two years, our Practice list size has significantly increased and we recognise the challenges this brings.  As you may be aware, employing salaried GPs has been very difficult for General Practice and we have to be innovative in the way we deliver our service.  Whilst we have recently recruited new GPs we still need to meet our demand and a new appointment booking system will help us to achieve this.

Our ethos and values at the Practice is to support our patients who are at the heart of everything that we do, however, we have recognised that we do have to change the way we work to cope with the growing demand.  Our Patient Services Team work hard to answer your calls in a timely manner and this is becoming more and more difficult at peak times despite being adequately resourced.

We strive to provide continuity of care and in an ideal world, you would always be able to see your preferred clinician. When we are inundated with patient requests, which can possibly be dealt with in a different way, we are unable to offer our best possible service.  You, the patient, in our recent survey, have also expressed seeing the same clinician is very important and we feel the new appointment booking system will help us deliver this.

Many requests can be dealt with by other medical service providers i.e. our Physiotherapists, Mental Health Practitioner, your local Pharmacy and administrative requests by our amazing Patient Services Team. By introducing the new system, on Monday 09th September 2024, we are able to review patient requests and take the appropriate action based on the patient clinical need, not want.  We can make sure that you are dealt with by the right clinician, which will result in not wasting appointments and increase our capacity to see patients with new and ongoing complex needs. Patients who have an urgent more complex need might be directed immediately to A&E.

We appreciate that change might be difficult for some patients.  Our vulnerable patients will not be disadvantaged by this new system.  We all need to get used to the new way of interacting with the Practice and we ask that you are kind to our Patient Services Team as we go live in September.

The Partners, Senior Management and all staff are committed to providing you with the best possible care.

What do Patients need to do now?
Firstly, you will need to register with Anima before 9th September 2024.  Watch the short Anima YouTube video to help you

Register by clicking here

An App is not available at the moment and nor is this system linked to your NHS App.

Do not worry if you do not have access to the internet, do not feel confident in using the system, or do not have access to an email address.  A member of the Patient Services Team will be happy to help you, via telephone, and will complete the form on your behalf.

What will Patients need to do on 09th Setpember 2024?
If you wish to contact the Practice for an appointment or have a clinical related requested you will need to undertake this via Anima.

Watch the short Anima YouTube video on how to submit requests.

It is important that you input as much information as possible to enable the Doctor to source you the best advice albeit an appointment or a prescription. Whilst the questions appear lengthy, the quality of the information will help the Doctor dealing with your query.

You will be contacted via phone/email to book your same day or routine appointment.

We will update our website with further information. 

NHS Integrated Care Northamptonshire have asked us to help promote the recruitment of Patient Safety Partners for their area. This is an exciting new role which aims to involve patients and carers in the improvement and safety of local NHS services.