Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Act(formerly the Health (Screening Programmes) Amendment Bill)
Background
The Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Act 2004 was passed in Parliament on 2 March 2004 and received Royal Assent from the Governor-General on 7 March 2004.
The Act will come into force in two stages. First, a small number of provisions - largely affecting the operation of the NCSP - will commence on 1 July 2004. The remaining provisions will come into force on 7 March 2005.
The Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Act will implement several key recommendations from the Ministerial Inquiry into the Under-Reporting of Cervical Smear Abnormalities in the Gisborne Region (April 2001), which sought changes to section 74A of the Health Act 1956.
The Act aims to:
- streamline and clarify how the National Cervical Screening Programme works and what its objectives are - enabling more direct communication between smear-takers, women, and the Manager of the Programme; and
- make it possible to review the safety and effectiveness of the screening programme - by providing evaluators and persons operating the programme with access to key information to carry out evaluations.
The Act has a number of detailed provisions. To find more information on these provisions and how they may affect you, please visit the National Cervical Screening Programme website (www.healthywomen.org.nz). A short summary of some key changes is set out below.
Enrolment in the Programme
The Act simplifies the way women participate in the NCSP.
Under the current system, women automatically have their cervical smear and colposcopy results entered on the NCSP-Register. A woman can in discussion with their Smeartaker choose to stop individual results being entered on the NCSP-Register.
Under the new legislation, women will no longer be able to opt off individual results from the NCSP-Register. Instead the woman will have two options – to participate in the Programme fully or to opt off the Programme entirely (this means that no further results will be entered on the NCSP-Register and all previous records will be removed, but for the minimum necessary details identifying the woman as one who has opted off the Programme).
Information provided to women
The Act requires smeartakers, colposcopists and the Manager of the Programme, to provide information to women about:
- the smear test procedure
- the importance of having regular cervical screening tests
- the objectives of, and the benefits and risks of participating in, the Programme
- who has access to information on the Register
- the uses to which that information may be put, and,
- how a woman may cancel her enrolment in the Programme, if she wishes to do so.
Screening programme evaluators
The Director-General of Health will appoint screening programme evaluators to assess the Programme. These evaluators will have access to information as needed to evaluate the Programme's safety and effectiveness.
Access to this health information will only be to the extent necessary for the evaluation. There are also obligations on evaluators to keep all personal information confidential and secure and as a further safeguard health practitioners have the ability to oversee access to the records they hold.
Evaluators will be able to access health information and specimens relating to a woman who:
· is enrolled in the Programme, or
· has developed cervical cancer whether or not she is enrolled on the Programme.
Independent review of the NCSP
Under the Act, a review committee will be appointed by the Minister of Health once every three years to review the NCSP and evaluation activities that have been carried out or are proposed to be carried out. The focus of these reviews will be continuous quality improvement of the NCSP with a view to reducing the incidence of and mortality from cervical cancer. These high level reviews are distinct from evaluations as they look at the Programme in its entirety. After tabling in Parliament, review committee reports become publicly available.
Further Information
For further information on the Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Act, please visit the National Cervical Screening Programme website www.healthywomen.org.nz
Contact
For more information or any feedback on this webpage please contact:
Jane McEntee
NCSP-Manager
Tel: 027 4 807 861
or email: jane_mcentee@moh.govt.nz
or
Warwick Gilchrist
Senior Analyst - National Screening Unit
Tel: (09) 580 9104
or email: warwick_gilchrist@moh.govt.nz
The legislation is available on www.legislation.govt.nz - click on 'Statues' then H in the A-Z menu, then click on the plus symbol beside "Health Act 1956" and scroll down to "Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Act 2004" |