BOSSES FAIL SMEAR TEST

Many won't give women time off for check-ups

- NIGEL NELSON

WOMEN are delaying vital cervical cancer screening because bosses are refusing them time off for appointments.

Research reveals 17% have had to take unpaid leave to get tested while 16% threw a sickie.

But a worrying 20% had been putting appointments off until they had annual leave, a survey by Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust reveals.

And astonishingly the NHS was among employers not giving staff time off for screening.

Cervical cancer victim Roisin Sheridan-Owens, 39, of Londonderry, told Jo's: "I was a single mum in a new job and kept putting the test off. I didn't like asking for time off.