Family Planning NT switches to mixed billing, sparks concerns for cancer screening rates

A major health organisation’s switch to mixed billing could have long-term implications for cervical cancer in the Northern Territory.

The Territory’s cervical cancer screening rates could plummet as a major health clinic moves to mixed billing practices.

Family Planning Welfare Association NT CEO Robyn Wardle said the clinic had not charged patients for 50 years, but Australia’s Medicare freeze forced the organisation to make a tough decision.

Ms Wardle said she anticipated the clinic’s cervical screening patients would be out of pocket $30 as of May.

“We’re not sure if we will have a decline in clientele, if people will not come to the service because there’s a fee,” she said.

“It could well be that some women decide on not having cervical screening because it’s not available freely.”

Family Planning Welfare Association CEO Robyn Wardle said the shift to mixed billing would likely impact cervical cancer screening rates.

The change comes after just 62.6 per cent of Territorians were screened for cervical cancer between 2018 and 2021.

The Territory – like the rest of the country – needs to reach a 70 per cent screening rate to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035.

Ms Wardle encouraged the NT community to continue monitoring their health despite the additional fees.

“If you don’t screen and take years away, you could be in for surgery, or it could even be cancer that will lead to other cancers,” she said.

“We want people just to be aware that they’ve got to put some value on their health, and that moving forward into the new world, that might be something that we all have to have now, with health budgets in our homes to say, ‘this is what we’re going to have for our healthcare’.”

In 2018, eight cases of cervical cancer were recorded in the NT.

Cervical cancer and mortality rates have plummeted since the Australian Government’s focus on encouraging people to screen for the disease.

“Self-collection testing is a game changer, giving women choice and health professionals analternative testing method to best meet each individual patients needs,” said Cancer Council NT CEO Tanya Izod.

“The introduction of cervical cancer self-collection testing will allow Territory women, in

particular more Aboriginal and multicultural women, to confidently engage in cervical cancer

screening.”