Mobile cervical screening clinics, known as 'Living Well' buses, are expanding their services across North West England. These NHS England North West-funded buses began offering walk-in cervical screening in Cheshire and Merseyside in 2024 and have since grown due to demand.
Currently, two buses conduct 10 cervical screening sessions weekly across Lancashire, South Cumbria, Cheshire, and Merseyside. From October, the service is set to extend to locations in Greater Manchester.
The initiative aims to address declining screening rates in England, which have fallen by eight percentage points to 69% since 2014, according to OECD data. NHS figures indicate that over 4 million women in England are not up to date with their cervical screening.
Nurses involved in the mobile clinics highlight the convenience of the service, allowing women to attend without an appointment. One session in Warrington screened 18 women, with five having their first screening and eight being overdue. Overall, the buses have screened more than 2,700 women across the North West.
Later this year, NHS England plans to introduce self-sampling home kits for women overdue for screening. Experts suggest this could further increase screening rates by overcoming barriers such as limited access and time constraints.