The decision to award Telstra Health a $178 million contract to build the National Cancer Screening Register in preference to the Victorian Cytology Service (VCS) has been described as 'surreal' by its executive director, but the organisation has accepted the decision and urged the government not to delay the roll out of the register for fear it may affect the renewal of the national cervical cancer screening program.

VCS executive director Marion Saville told a Senate Community Affairs legislation committee hearing in Sydney last week that when she received an email in March informing her that the service had missed out on the tender “it was a surreal” moment, particularly as the service had upgraded its own IT systems to handle the new human papillomavirus (HPV) testing regime that is set to replace Pap smears from May next year.