(2) which NHS hospitals have sufficient facilities to treat all colposcopy patients receiving (a) punch biopsy, (b) large-loop excision of the transformation zone and (c) other cervical treatments under local or general anaesthetic; and which such hospitals advertise both forms of anaesthesia in their patient literature.
Data on the number and type of facilities within national health service hospitals providing colposcopy punch biopsy, large-loop excision of the transformation zone and other cervical treatments under local and general anaesthetic are not held centrally.
The choice between the most appropriate types of anaesthesia to use for such procedures is a clinical one and should be reached following discussion between the patient and the clinician, taking into account the patient's wishes and which is the most clinically appropriate type of anaesthesia for the individual patient.