'The heartbreaking call that saved my life'

A mum-of-two was rushed into hospital to have emergency scans one New Year’s Eve after a routine screening picked up that she had a life-threatening condition. Rita Doyle ‘received a text from the NHS reminding’ her that her routine cervical screening was due, but she ‘read the text and completely forgot about it.

Now, the Liverpool mum says: “I’ll never, ever stop being thankful for going for that screening test, and I encourage all my friends and family to go for theirs,” says the Liverpool mum.

Rita Doyle, who is now 61, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in December 2020, after a routine cervical screening. By New Year’s Eve she had received a phone call telling her she had cancer.

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Rita said: “When I received a text from the NHS reminding me that my routine test was due, I read the text and completely forgot about it. After receiving a follow up text, I thought ‘I suppose I should really book this’”.

Two weeks after the test, Rita was contacted by her local hospital, who told her they needed to investigate further. Rita said: “I walked into the room, and realised it was probably more serious than I’d originally thought.

“There was a doctor there who explained they had found some HPV on my cervical screening, and they wanted to do a colposcopy.

“On New Year’s Eve, I received a phone call to tell me I had cancer, and that I had to very urgently have an MRI and a CT scan, to ensure the cancer had not spread.”

Rita was referred to Liverpool Women’s Hospitals NHS FT for specialist surgery, which was extensive, and included not only removing her whole reproductive system, but also various lymph nodes.

She said: “Thankfully, just