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Guidance

Cervical screening: laboratory HPV testing and cytology services

Recording and reporting requirements for laboratories in accordance with the primary high risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) screening pathway.

Updates to this page

From:
NHS England
Published:
20 September 2019
Last updated:
25 August 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated to reflect new HPV sample taker training guidance

  2. Rewording of paragraphs in the introduction and sections 1.1, 5, 5.1 and 5.2 to reflect extension of screening interval to 5 years.

  3. Minor terminology updates made; CSMS and colposcopy discharge updates and inserted information on sample transportation to centralised HPV/cytology screening laboratories, consumables distribution and cytology results from guidance previously in the implementation guide for primary HPV screening.

  4. Added clarification that publication was originally published by Public Health England.

  5. Clarified that the presence of endocervical cells is not required for a negative report.

  6. Updated content on reporting hrHPV tests (section 2.9 and new section 2.11) and clarified the follow-up arrangements for women who have attended colposcopy (section 5.4). Updated Table 2 valid code combinations for HPV and cytology results and also content on clinical governance (section 7.5) and laboratory organisation (section 8.7 and section 8.8).

  7. Added new section (7.3): Automatic authorisation of primary HPV negative test results.

  8. Updated links in section 5.1 and section 5.4 of the guidance for cervical screening laboratories providing HPV testing and cytology services.

  9. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Cervical screening: laboratories providing HPV testing and cytology services in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme

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Details

This guidance covers:

  • the pathway for primary hrHPV screening
  • the refinement of sample adequacy using findings from the Health Technology Assessment study
  • information on what to include in the HPV-U reporting category
  • call and recall codes for primary hrHPV screening
  • the role and responsibilities for service leads
  • advice for managers on laboratory organisation

It replaces:

  • ‘Achievable standards, benchmarks for reporting and criteria for evaluating cervical cytopathology’ (2013), once a laboratory has implemented testing for high risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV)
  • ‘Laboratory organisation: a guide for laboratories participating in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme (2003)’

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