Healthcare system and provider related barriers

Learn about the barriers faced by healthcare providers and the system-related barriers that prevent cervical screening.

Healthcare provider-related barriers

  • Time constraints and pressure to restrict consultation times
  • Availability of female healthcare providers
  • Lack of practical training in cervical screening (e.g. for international medical graduates who have never performed cervical screening)
  • The patient knowing the healthcare provider personally
  • Interpersonal and communication skills
  • Age and cultural background of the healthcare provider
  • Lack of trust in the effectiveness and equivalency between self-collection and clinician-collection screening options

System-related barriers

  • Accessibility of the health service, including availability of ramps and hoists
  • Availability of convenient appointment times
  • Availability of bulk-billing
  • Services without a culturally sensitive environment
  • Availability of female healthcare providers or any healthcare provider who is a cervical screener
  • Availability of local language resources and patient information
  • Availability of pathology laboratories to process self-collection samples
Date last updated:

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