News
This page lists all recent National Services Division news stories. For recent NHS Scotland News, please follow the link to Media Monitoring for NHS Scotland. This link will take you to an external NHS Scotland website. NSD does not accept responsibility for the content of external websites.
For information on new developments in NSD, please visit the New Developments section.
News Headlines
The link(s) below will take you to the relevant story.
- Bowel Screening Programme Helpline Downtime
- Musculoskeletal Surgical Sarcoma Service
- Scottish Cervical Screening Programme - Test of Cure
Please follow this link for archived National Services Division news articles
Bowel Screening Programme Helpline Downtime
The Scottish Bowel Screening Programme Helpline was unavailable between Friday 3 June - Monday 6 June 2011. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Musculoskeletal Surgical Sarcoma Service
From 1 April 2011 the recommendations following the review of the Musculoskeletal Surgical Sarcoma Service and the Scottish Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Managed Clinical Network came into effect. The Musculoskeletal Surgical Sarcoma Service has been de-designated and responsibility for commissioning lies with NHS Boards. Commissioning Guidance is available to download here.
Scottish Cervical Screening Programme - Test of Cure
The Test of Cure Early Implementation Study commenced 1 February 2011 in Scottish Pilot sites: NHS Grampian, Orkney, Shetland, Highland, Western Isles and Lothian.
Following current Scottish protocol, women treated for CIN 2 and 3 in all other NHS Board areas have a cervical 'smear test' (cytology alone) every year, for five years following their treatment, before they can be considered for return to routine screening.
From the 1st February, women in the pilot sites who have been treated for CIN 2 and 3 since 1st August 2010 will have their sample tested for HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) in addition to cytology at 6 and 12 months and a cytology test done at 24 months.
The HPV test is important because it is now known that women who are HPV negative at 6 months and 12 months following treatment, and who also have no cytological changes at 6, 12 and 24 months after treatment can be returned to routine screening. This means women can return to routine screening three years earlier than at present.
