Multiple industry sources have come forward to claim that the National Cancer Screening Register being built by Telstra Health will not be fully operational in time for the December 1 start date of the new cervical cancer screening program.

While the Department of Health insists it is planned to be operational and will receive electronic test results from pathology laboratories, it has admitted that screening histories will not be able to be sent to labs from the national register, with the existing state and territory registers continuing to provide this service.

The state data will not be migrated until mid-January, the Department says. Our sources say this has serious implications for patient safety.