The one screening test that prevents cancer rather than only detecting it — and the symptoms that need checking between smears.
Assessed and treated by a GMC-registered GP
Prescriptions, sick notes and referral letters included
A written treatment plan after every appointment
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
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Registered with the Care Quality Commission
Cervical cancer is one of the few cancers we can genuinely prevent, and the UK has the two tools that do it: screening and vaccination.
Cervical screening does not just find cancer — it finds the changes that would become cancer, so they can be treated first. That distinction matters more than almost anything else on this page. A smear test is not a cancer test. It is a cancer prevention test.
Around one in three eligible women in the UK does not attend, for reasons that are almost always understandable — embarrassment, past trauma, discomfort, or simply never getting round to it.
Every one of those reasons has a practical answer, and they are set out below.
We cannot perform cervical screening — it requires an internal examination. It is free through your GP practice, and that is where it needs to happen.
What we can do is talk through what is stopping you, and assess symptoms that need attention between screens.
Early cervical cancer often causes no symptoms at all. That is precisely why screening exists — waiting for symptoms means waiting until the disease is established.
And most abnormal bleeding is not cancer. Infection, hormonal contraception, polyps and cervical ectropion are all far commoner. It still needs assessing, because that is what separates them.
A normal recent smear does not explain new bleeding after sex. If you have symptoms, they need examining regardless of when you were last screened.
Human papillomavirus is an extremely common virus passed on through skin-to-skin sexual contact. Most sexually active people are exposed at some point, and in the great majority the immune system clears it without anything happening.
In a minority it persists, and persistent infection with certain high-risk types is what causes cervical cell changes over years.
It does not mean anyone has been unfaithful. HPV can lie dormant for years or decades, so a positive result says nothing about when or from whom it was acquired.
It is not a reflection on anybody's behaviour, and treating it as one is both wrong and a reason women avoid screening.
HPV vaccination is offered free in schools to all children in Year 8, boys and girls, and prevents the infections that cause most cervical cancers.
Catch-up vaccination is available free up to age 25 for anyone who missed it — worth asking about, because plenty of people do not know.
The UK changed approach: samples are tested for high-risk HPV first, and only examined for cell changes if HPV is found.
This is more sensitive than the old method. If HPV is not present, the risk of significant cell changes is very low — which is why intervals can safely be longer.
A closer look at the cervix with a magnifying instrument, in a clinic, taking a few minutes. It is not surgery and it is not usually painful.
Where abnormal cells are confirmed, they can be removed — most often with a LLETZ procedure, done under local anaesthetic. That treatment is what prevents cancer, and it is highly effective.
It is not a test for ovarian cancer, or for any other gynaecological cancer. This is a widespread and consequential misunderstanding.
We cannot take a smear. Cervical screening needs an internal examination and cannot be done remotely by anyone.
It is free at your GP practice, and many areas offer evening and weekend appointments, or clinics staffed entirely by women.
If something is stopping you attending, that is worth twenty minutes. The reasons are real and they have practical answers:
Ask specifically for a cervix examination. These symptoms need looking at, not treating over the phone.
Screening is for people without symptoms. If you have symptoms, you need assessing now — whether your last smear was normal, and whenever it was.
You can book at any time — you do not need to wait for a reminder, and there is no time limit on catching up.
In England, screening runs from 25 to 64, every three years from 25 to 49 and every five from 50 to 64. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run comparable programmes.
It is free, it takes a few minutes, and it prevents cancer rather than merely detecting it.
If you are overdue, book now. Nobody will comment on how long it has been, and there is no penalty for a gap.
Free in Year 8 for all children, and free as catch-up up to 25. It prevents the infections that cause most cervical cancers.
Smoking roughly doubles the risk, and makes it harder for your body to clear HPV. Free NHS support works far better than going it alone.
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme is free, and it is the single most effective thing available for cervical cancer — it prevents the disease rather than just detecting it, by finding and treating cell changes before they become cancer. Women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 64 are invited routinely.
Attending your screening when invited is worth more than anything on this page or any private test. Uptake has been falling, and that is the entire risk.
The HPV vaccine is free on the NHS for school-age children and for eligible groups up to 25, and it prevents most cervical cancers.
Private cervical screening is widely marketed and is generally unnecessary. The NHS programme uses primary HPV testing, which is more sensitive than the old cytology-first approach — so a private smear is not a better test, and screening more often than the programme recommends does not improve outcomes.
Where private care is genuinely useful is convenience of timing if you cannot attend when invited, and speed of colposcopy if you would rather not wait — though NHS colposcopy after an abnormal result is already prompt.
What is never screening and always assessment: bleeding after sex, between periods, or after the menopause. Those need seeing regardless of when your last smear was, and a normal smear does not exclude them.
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme, operating on UK National Screening Committee advice, invites those with a cervix aged 25 to 64 — three-yearly from 25 to 49 and five-yearly from 50 to 64, with intervals extended where primary HPV testing is negative.
The programme uses primary high-risk HPV testing with cytology as a reflex test, which is more sensitive than cytology-first screening — the basis for the point above about private smears.
NICE NG12, Suspected cancer: recognition and referral, recommends urgent referral for a cervix that appears suspicious on examination, and assessment of postcoital, intermenstrual and postmenopausal bleeding regardless of screening history.
UKHSA Green Book chapter 18a sets out the HPV immunisation programme.
NHSCSP colposcopy guidance governs management of abnormal results, and NICE guidance covers treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
It does something better — it finds the changes that would become cancer, so they can be treated first.
That is why it is a prevention test rather than a detection test, and why attending matters so much.
No — and this causes an enormous amount of unnecessary distress.
HPV is extremely common and most people clear it without anything happening. A positive result means you will be checked again, usually in a year.
It also says nothing about when you caught it or from whom. HPV can lie dormant for years, so it is not evidence of anything about anybody's behaviour.
No — it checks the cervix only.
This misunderstanding is common and it matters, because women have assumed they were checked for something they were not. There is no screening test for ovarian cancer.
Several things, and they genuinely work.
Ask for a smaller speculum — they come in different sizes. Ask to insert it yourself. Take painkillers beforehand. Say you find it painful, because a nurse who knows will do it differently.
And if you are past the menopause, ask about vaginal oestrogen for a few weeks first. Dryness is a major cause of painful smears and this is rarely offered.
Yes, and you deserve to know them.
Tell the nurse — you do not have to give details. They can go as slowly as you need, stop at any point, and let you control the pace. You can bring someone with you.
You can also ask for a longer appointment, or a double appointment, so nothing is rushed.
Yes. HPV is passed by skin-to-skin genital contact, not only penetrative sex with men.
Anyone with a cervix in the eligible age range should be screened — including trans men and non-binary people who have a cervix, who may need to request it rather than be invited.
Yes. The vaccine prevents most but not all high-risk HPV types.
Vaccination plus screening is what makes elimination realistic — either alone leaves a gap.
Screening stops at 64 for most women, but symptoms still matter at any age.
Bleeding after the menopause always needs investigating, and being past screening age is not a reason to leave it.
Not at all, and nobody will judge you.
Book whenever you are ready — there is no cut-off for catching up, and going late is enormously better than not going.
August 30, 2026
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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