Health Correspondent Fergus Walsh: Government says action has been taken

The Public Accounts Committee found that there were "still significant quality failings at every stage of the cervical screening programme" - one year after a government task force was set up to improve the service.

The committee's chairman, Tory MP David Davis, said: "The weaknesses that we have identified indicate that the NHS is failing many of the most vulnerable in our society.

He urged the NHS Executive to "act with vigour to address those weaknesses".

The MP said it was "appalling" that warnings of understaffing, poor training and low morale had gone unheeded for years at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

The MPs are worried about regional variations in testing standards

Problems at the hospital emerged last year, spurring the government to set up an action team to investigate cervical services nationwide.

Mr Davis said screening problems "may have contributed to eight deaths, 30 hysterectomy operations and unacceptable anxiety to women".

The BBC's Alva McNicol: The committee says shortcomings have affected tens of thousands of women

The committee called on the NHS Executive to set firm national and local timetables to achieve "quality standards" in smear taking and analysis. And it urged the Executive to take "robust action where standards slip".

The MPs also complained of a lack of accountability in the NHS.

The committee recognised new procedures had been put in place and that more were planned, but it said it remained "sceptical about their effectiveness".

The MPs also warned of regional variations in the service provided to women.

Solicitor Sarah Harman: "Women should be able to expect a consistent service across the country"

Solicitor Sarah Harman - who is acting for more than 100 women making claims against the Kent and Canterbury Hospital - also pointed to the "worrying" variations across the regions.

Some hospitals expect much higher standards of their screeners and give women much better information to women than in other areas, she said. And standards were much higher in London than elsewhere, she told Radio 4's Today programme.

Speaking on the same programme, health minister Baroness Hayman said the report was "worrying" but added that it was mainly retrospective.

Government 'taking action'

Accountability in the NHS had been improved, with regional directors of public health being made personally responsible for implementing the government's action team report.

Some laboratories had been closed or merged with others and a new accreditation programme had been set up as part of the biggest-ever shake up of the service, she said.

Baroness Hayman: The biggest shake-up since screening was introduced

The screening programme was still successful and was saving 3,900 women's lives a year, so women should continue to use it.

"There was a lot that needed to be done and we are in the midst of taking action," she said.

"People can have confidence that what went wrong in the past is being addressed now."