EXTRA training for staff has resulted in a huge fall in the number of "reject" cervical smear tests in the region.

The additional training programme covered all cervical cancer screening centres in the North-East and Yorkshire.

Health bosses in the region said the training had saved thousands of women the worry and inconvenience of having to have an additional test after the first sample was deemed inadequate.

According to experts, the number of inadequate smears in the region, following the training, has dropped by the equivalent of almost 14,000 a year.

A consequence of the improved accuracy of testing has been a reduction in laboratory workloads, producing savings of £3m.

Officials said the savings were greater than the cost of providing the training to help staff detect the early stages of cervical cancer.

Regional director of quality assurance Dr Keith Faulkner said he was delighted with the result of the scheme.

He said: "This is potentially an extremely positive outcome for all women, because we can reduce anxieties over smear tests.

"We were concerned that the number of opportunistic smears - those taken between formal invitations - was higher than the national average.

"There were also concerns about the number of inadequate smears being produced by some general practices, which could be over 20 per cent in some cases."

Officials thought the inadequate smears could have been the result of a lack of training, and after carrying out a regional survey, a team of 57 advisors - all practice nurses - were appointed to help improve quality.

"Since the introduction of co-ordinated training in January 2000, about 400 nurses new to smear taking have received support and over 1,800 of the 2,500 in the region have attended training. There are numerous tangible and indirect benefits."

The rate of inadequate smears in Northern and Yorkshire is now going down, while the national rate is going up.

It is estimated that the failure rate for Northern and Yorkshire in 2000/2001 would have been about 10.7 per cent without the training programme

The actual rate was eight per cent.

Dr Faulkner, who is based in Newcastle, is calling for other regions or health authorities to consider setting up similar training schemes.

A paper detailing the achievements of the training scheme appeared in the Journal of Medical Screening recently.