HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock must stop his attempted privatisation of cervical cancer screenings as it would further damage a service which is already in crisis, Unite warned today.

The warning follows recent claims by the British Association for Cytopathology that the service is in “meltdown.”

The launch of a Public Health England campaign at the start of this month to encourage more women to attend cervical screenings  has led to increased demand — but this coincides with scientific staff leaving laboratories because of uncertainty over their jobs as a result of possible privatisation.