Your article about oesophageal cancer (NHS pharmacies to pilot ‘sponge on a string’ test to spot cancer precursor, 9 July) reminds me of the recent one about poor uptake of cervical screening (One in three across UK are overdue for cervical cancer screening, 20 June). You cite embarrassment and pain as major barriers to improving screening, but the misogyny of healthcare is of crucial importance.
Women wait months to see gynaecologists then are given no pain relief for painful procedures. They put up with this as they don’t want to be put back in a queue. There is access to topical lidocaine spray and entonox, and it should be routine. Having just retired after 43 years as a women’s health nurse and midwife, my practical tips for women are: always ask for a small speculum dipped in water. They are less painful and water does not alter results (GP surgeries seem to use long speculum as routine. I never found one necessary, sizing down is the key to finding a cervix). Never agree to put your hands underneath you to help the practitioner. This is a red flag for a wrong-sized speculum, especially if the woman has a retroverted uterus. You don’t have a problem, the practitioner does. Please get screened, but expect kindness as a basic requirement.
Elspeth Sewell
Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire
