Commitment to accessibility

Under the CervicalCheck Women's Charter, the programme has made a clear commitment to provide equal access for all eligible women, including those with special needs.

CervicalCheck has appointed an access officer to facilitate access to, and provide information about its smeartaking services to women with special needs. The access officer can advise organisations that provide services and facilities for women with disabilities, on the need for cervical screening. When appropriate, the access officer can facilitate access to cervical screening services.

Accessible information

Pictorial-led information leaflet for women explaining the smear test process.
Freephone information service - 1800 45 45 55.
General email contact for queries is info@cervicalcheck.ie.
Dedicated email for access issues is access@cervicalcheck.ie.
The CervicalCheck website www.cervicalcheck.ie meets accessibility guidelines.
The CervicalCheck website is compatible with screen readers.
All CervicalCheck information leaflets have been granted the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) Plain English mark.
The information leaflets 'About your free smear test' and 'About your smear test results' have been translated into Braille and audio format.
The 'Information sheet for women' which is offered to women at their smear test appointment, is available in Braille. It details how a woman's results are used and why their consent is needed to take part in the programme.
The 'Information sheet for women' has been translated into 11 languages - Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin). French, German, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Spanish. Copies are available to view and download from the 'Publications' section of www.cervicalcheck.ie.
'About your free smear test' and 'About your smear test results' are available to download as podcasts and audio clips. Limited versions are available on CD.

Accessibility

CervicalCheck supports women who may not be able to access smear tests in primary care due to specific access requirements.
CervicalCheck can facilitate visually impaired women with a telephone call when her smear test is due. This facility is available on request.
CervicalCheck requests that contracted smeartakers inform the programme if their surgeries are wheelchair accessible. This information will be available on the CervicalCheck website in time.

Women who choose to opt-off the CervicalCheck programme

A factsheet is available to support women, smeartakers and care facilities in establishing a woman's need for screening.
CervicalCheck has directly contacted over 400 residential facilities to support women who do not require cervical screening.

Having a smear test

There is a choice of almost 5,000 smeartakers available.
The locations of registered smeartakers are available to view in 'Find a smeartaker' on the CervicalCheck website or from CervicalCheck's Freephone information line - 1800 45 45 55.
There are a number of positions that a woman can choose when having her smear test.
A woman can choose to have a chaperone accompany her for her smear test.
A woman can choose to defer her smear test to a more suitable time.
The provision of group appointments for women who wish to attend as a group can be facilitated on request.
With notice, it may be possible to provide a language interpreter on request.
With notice, it may be possible to provide a sign language interpreter on request.

Health education and screening promotion

Screening promotion staff are available regionally to liaise directly with organisations and groups who may have specific screening requirements.
Screening promotion staff interact with smeartakers in supporting individuals with specific requirements to support them in screening.

Colposcopy services

With notice, it may be possible to provide language interpreters on request.
With notice, it may be possible to provide sign language interpreters on request.
A woman can choose to have a chaperone present.
All 15 services are wheelchair accessible.

Registration options

A woman can register with CervicalCheck by one of the following:

Freepost registration form.
Through the CervicalCheck website www.cervicalcheck.ie with her Personal Public Service Number (PPS No).
Through the CervicalCheck Freephone information line 1800 45 45 55.

Smeartaker training

Smeartaker training is available to all registered smeartakers.
Disability awareness in relation to smeartaking is highlighted at all training events.
Guidelines for good practice in taking smear tests in women with an intellectual disability are provided in Appendix 6A of the 'Guide for smeartakers'.
A podcast on real women's experiences of having a smear test is available to download from the CervicalCheck website.

CervicalCheck access officer

CervicalCheck has appointed Fiona Treacy as access officer. Additional help for people with disabilities can be arranged by phoning Fiona on 061 406560 or by sending an email to access@cervicalcheck.ie.

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