A Liverpool woman is pushing for more support for disabled women who are due their cervical screening during Cervical Screening Awareness Week. This comes as 50,000 women in Liverpool are overdue for their cervical screening.
Local patient advocate Lisa McCann has a physical disability and has experienced the lack of support first-hand. The 44-year-old from Vauxhall shared her experience: "I've gone to GP surgeries without hydraulic beds, and I can't get on the bed, so I haven't had my smear done. I get worried about the barriers I'll face and if it's not accessible you do feel like an inconvenience."
McCann believes that GPs are to blame for offering little support to women who are due their screening. She said: "There's definitely a lack of support and education, especially from GPs and parents. GPs need to be educated, and GP practices need disability awareness training."
Lisa revealed she was overdue for her first cervical screening because her GP never made her aware she needed one, "because I was disabled and not sexually active." Now, she collaborates with Everton and Anfield Primary Care Network to encourage other women with disabilities to go for their screening.
She said: "There's such a stigma when it comes to health screening, I want to speak for women that can't speak for themselves." The 44-year-old praised the primary care network as "fantastic" for the support they showed her after they offered to carry out her cervical screening.
Lisa also works with women with sensory issues, pushing for appointments to be offered before screening so the women "who don't know what to expect or don't want to be touched" can get to know the nurse first. She has so far encouraged four women to book in for their first smear test. Lisa said: "I've potentially saved somebody's life, and I want these women to feel empowered to do things that other women can do. Cervical screening saves lives, but that only matters if everyone can actually access it."
