Mother, 23, diagnosed with cervical cancer after GP refused to give her a smear test FOURTEEN times - despite slew of warning signs
A young mother has hit out at the NHS after she was denied a smear test because of her age—despite heavy bleeding and family history of the condition. Paige McCall, now 23, suffered from heavy bleeding whilst she was in her second trimester with her first child, Iris Mason, in November 2023.When the bleeding persisted she went to Doncaster Royal Infirmary to be checked, where she claims she was told her cervix was 'abnormal', but was denied a smear test to investigate further because she was too young and pregnant.But the actual cause was cervical cancer—the most common form of cancer in women under the age of 35, and kills two women every day in the UK.Despite visiting the hospital eight times throughout her pregnancy for the tell-tale warning sign, the trainee teacher was denied the routine test eight times, even after having highlighted her family history of cervical cancer. Recalling the horrific ordeal, she said: 'Everytime a nurse, doctor or midwife checked my cervix they said there was something abnormal with it but they couldn't do anything because I was pregnant and under 25. 'But the extent of the bleeding was awful. I was filling a pad every three hours. It was my first pregnancy so I didn't know what was going on. 'I thought I was having a miscarriage,' she added. 'But everytime they scanned me, the baby was absolutely fine. When Paige suffered persistent bleeding during her first pregnancy, she knew something was rng but doctors insisted she was too young to have a smear test
'I bled after giving birth which is normal, but the bleeding continued for months and months. It was back and forth getting told the same thing. I just felt pushed back.' After giving birth to her daughter, she conceived again six months later and the bleeding continued. This time, she was refused the test on six occasions, deemed too young to be at risk of the disease. 'Again, I was told there was something wrong with my cervix,' she said.'I've got a very strong family history of cervical cancer. Every time they looked at me, I told them how one of my relatives died from the disease. 'I told them this every time and they still didn't give me a test.' It was only in August this year when she 'stood her ground' at seven months pregnant that a doctor finally referred her for a biopsy. But with the NHS appointment not scheduled until December, Ms McCall was concerned that it would be too little too late. After forking out £460 for a private assessment, the young mother was heartbreakingly diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer on 31 October. Now the trainee teacher wants to raise better awareness around the disease and is campaigning for smear tests to be offered as young as 16—claiming that if she had waited until she was 25-years-old, she could have been handed a much worse prognosis. Paige, pictured with her partner, said she knew something was wrong, but because it was her first pregnancy she thought she could be having a miscarriage After privately being diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer, the trainee teacher is now petitioning to lower the age at which smear tests are offered to young women on the NHS 'The woman said if I had waited until 25 to get my smear test, it would have possibly been stage four, when I would likely only survive the cancer for five years. 'When I was told this, I didn't know what to say. I just stared at the wall.'Even if Ms McCall had waited until December for her NHS biopsy appointment, the cancer could have spread, progressing to stage three in just a matter of months. Following her diagnosis, Ms McCall has opted for private treatment—costing £30,000—under which she will have her cervix removed before undergoing five weeks of daily chemotherapy. She has already had 11 of her eggs frozen, in the hopes that with the help of IVF she will be able to have more children in the future. But if the treatment is unsuccessful, and the cancer returns, she will have to have a hysterectomy, which will leave her infertile. 'It leaves me feeling angry that I've got to go to this extent to save my life,' she said. 'If it comes back, which there is a 60 per cent chance it will, I don't have £30,000 every time. I would have to wait and that's really scary. Paige said she is glad that her two children are too young to understand what is going on but feels that she has been robbed of her dignity and wants more young women to feel they can advocate for their health 'I'm glad my kids are so young that they don't really understand what's going on. But I'm going to lose my hair and I will be ill and frail. 'I feel like a little bit of my dignity is going to be stripped away from me. 'If I wasn't a mum, I would be dwelling on the fact that I had cancer but the world doesn't stop because I have cancer.' A spokesperson from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals said: 'I am sorry to hear of Paige's experience and would welcome the opportunity to understand more about her care and the processes involved, so we can explore whether there were any missed opportunities and where we may be able to improve.'A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson added: 'Our sympathies go out to Paige - anyone who has symptoms should speak to their GP as soon as possible.'We follow the advice of independent experts on screening who advise lowering the screening age would do more harm than good. The success of the HPV vaccination programme means cervical cancer is becoming very rare in younger women.Cervical cancer is the most common form of the disease in women under the age of 35, affecting around 3,300 women a year. But the disease is often dubbed a 'silent killer' because its symptoms can be easily mistaken for less serious problems, such as heavy periods and fatigue. Paige has a family history of cervical cancer putting her at an increased risk of the disease—thought experts do not know whether this is due to faulty genes or shared environmental factors including HPV NHS cervical screening data, which goes back to 2011, shows uptake was at its highest that year (75.7 per cent) but has fallen over timeAbnormal vaginal bleeding—including heavier periods, bleeding during or after sex, between your periods or after the menopause—unusual discharge, abdominal pain or pain between the hip bones or back are all signs of the disease. If the signs are recognised early, the chance of surviving for at least five years a is around 95 per cent.This drops to just 15 per cent if the cancer is detected at later stages, when it has spread to other parts of the body. In England, cervical screening prevents only 70 per cent of cancer deaths. Currently women aged 25 to 49 in the UK are invited for cervical screening, also known as a smear test, at their GP surgery every three years. For those aged between 50 and 64, it is offered every five years. During the screening appointment, a small sample of cells are taken from the cervix and checked for certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV)—the main cause of cervical cancer—that can cause changes to the cells in the cervix. Around eight in 10 people will get HPV at some point in their life and their body will clear it without any problems, according to the NHS. Just 67.2 per cent of girls were fully vaccinated in 2021/22, down from a high of 86.7 per cent in 2013/14. Some 62.4 per cent of boys, who have been offered the jab on the NHS since 2019, were jabbed in the most recent school year, NHS data shows But Ms McCall says girls should be offered the test as soon as they become sexually active, or at the very least, when they turn 16-years-old—the legal age of consent. She has also set up a petition and a GoFundMe page to enable more young women to access private healthcare. She said: 'I think kids are having sex really young now and my passion would be to give out smear tests when they become sexually active. 'I think if you've got a strong family history of the disease, it should definitely be offered younger. 'I want more young women to advocate for themselves, even if they need to refuse to leave the room until they are tested. 'If I didn't stand my ground that day, I would have been brushed off again, like I was for a year and a half.'The Government has long argued cervical screening should not be offered below the age of 25 given 'evidence has shown' screening younger women 'can lead to many unnecessary and harmful investigations and treatments'.The abnormalities which may be flagged 'sort themselves out without any need for treatment in most cases' they say.
Screening is arguably all the more important for women aged 34 and above, who did not receive a vaccine that protects against the vast majority of cervical cancers as part of the school programme introduced in 2008.But screening uptake overall remains low. Only around 70 per cent of eligible women, roughly 4.6million, turn up for their scheduled test.Embarrassment is a factor, according to research by cervical cancer charities.For half of the 1.3 million no-shows every year, getting time off work and finding a convenient time to fit in an appointment are the other reasons they miss it.In 2023, the NHS pledged to drastically slash the number of women struck by cervical cancer by 2040, vowing to boost uptake of both the HPV vaccine and cervical screening.However, elimination would technically be achieved when fewer than four women per 100,000 are diagnosed every year.For comparison, the rate currently stands at 9.5 women, equating to around 2,600 annually.In a bid to boost uptake and cut deaths from the devastating disease, the government announced earlier this year that millions of women will be offered at home smear tests as early as January 2026. The self-testing kits like this one (pictured) are expected to ‘revolutionise’ cervical cancer diagnosisThe initiative will see women who fail to attend an in-person check sent a self-sampling kit in the post which can be returned via pre-paid mail.The Department of Health and Social Care said the new approach could save up to 5,000 lives a year across England.In the UK, the HPV jab was offered to all girls in school year 8 since September 2008. But eligibility was only expanded to boys in year 8 from September 2019.Experts have credited the HPV vaccine for helping to virtually eradicate the disease among women.However, the jab, like all vaccines, does not offer 100 per cent protection, so women who have it are still recommended to have their regular smear tests. Beating cervical cancer must mean beating it for all says Cancer Research UK's CEO In the UK, hundreds of women die every year from cervical cancer and around 3,300 new cases are diagnosed.The mortality rate has dropped by around three quarters since the early 1970s, thanks to the success of vaccination programmes, screening, and the tireless work of NHS staff. But that progress, including NHS England’s ambitious goal of eliminating the disease by 2040, could be at risk.Around 25 years ago, Cancer Research UK scientists helped uncover the link between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer—which causes 99.7 per cent of cases. This discovery laid the foundation for modern screening and vaccination programmes, and today anyone aged 11 to 13 is eligible for vaccination in the UK.Worryingly, the number of people getting the HPV vaccine is heading in the wrong direction. Before the pandemic, around 89 per cent of year 9 girls were vaccinated, but by 2023-4, this fell to around 74 per cent. And in the same year, just 76.9 per cent of women were screened for cervical cancer by the age of 35. This falls well short of NHS England’s targets of 90 per cent vaccination uptake and 80 per cent of screening uptake. Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UKThis problem needs to be addressed. We know that some women receive their screening invitation and think, “Do I really want to do this? Will it be awkward? When will I find the time?” Our own surveys show that barriers like embarrassment, worries about pain, and work commitments stop nearly 30 per cent of people from attending screening.That’s why today’s announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care to introduce self-sampling home kits is such an important step forward. It will help to break down some of the barriers people face and has the potential to improve participation rates in cervical screening by allowing people to take a sample in the privacy of their own home.We know this approach works. The YouScreen trial, led by Dr Anita Lim and supported by Cancer Research UK, provided HPV self-sampling test kits to over 8,000 women who were at least six months overdue for cervical screening. The results saw a 22 per cent increase in women being tested who had previously not attended screening.However, if NHS England is to reach its ambitious target-the UK government must commit to investing more in cancer research, as well as rolling out innovations, like self-sampling, to reach the people who need them most. More must be done to tackle the inequalities that still exist in our healthcare system, particularly improving access for those in deprived areas and ethnic minorities who face challenges in accessing appointments.For now, if you receive a screening invitation, or a self-sampling kit, please consider attending or using it, and encourage your loved ones to do the same. Beating cervical cancer means beating it for everyone, so I urge all parents and guardians to ensure young people don't miss out on getting the HPV vaccine.Behind the nine women diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK every day is a person—a mother, a daughter, a friend. With bold action, we can ensure that we can bring about a world where everybody can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.- Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK CEO
