Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what tests are used in UK microbiology laboratories that are deemed equivalent to the UK SMI B58.
Answered by Jane Ellison
UK microbiology laboratories that do not use Standards for Microbiological Investigations (SMIs) should be able to demonstrate at least equivalence in their testing methodologies to the relevant accreditation body. Public Health England is not an accrediting body in these circumstances therefore we do not hold information as to what tests are deemed to be equivalent to UK SMI B58.
UK SMIs are not mandatory and Public Health England does not have data as to how many laboratories, National Health Service or otherwise use UK SMI B58 or equivalent testing for detecting Group B Strep.
SMIs are intended as a general resource for practising professionals operating in the field of laboratory medicine and infection specialties in the United Kingdom.
SMIs help laboratories to meet accreditation requirements by promoting high quality practices which are auditable.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many UK microbiology laboratories use the UK SMI B58 or equivalent test for detecting group B strep carriage.
Answered by Jane Ellison
UK microbiology laboratories that do not use Standards for Microbiological Investigations (SMIs) should be able to demonstrate at least equivalence in their testing methodologies to the relevant accreditation body. Public Health England is not an accrediting body in these circumstances therefore we do not hold information as to what tests are deemed to be equivalent to UK SMI B58.
UK SMIs are not mandatory and Public Health England does not have data as to how many laboratories, National Health Service or otherwise use UK SMI B58 or equivalent testing for detecting Group B Strep.
SMIs are intended as a general resource for practising professionals operating in the field of laboratory medicine and infection specialties in the United Kingdom.
SMIs help laboratories to meet accreditation requirements by promoting high quality practices which are auditable.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the recent Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists audit which reported that more than half of all obstetric units tested some or all pregnant women for group B Streptococci using tests not designed specifically to detect group B Streptococci, what the Government's plans are to introduce Public Health England's recently updated UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations, B58 Detection of carriage of Group B Streptococci; and what the planned timescale is for that introduction.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Public Health England has advised the Department that the UK Standard for Microbiology Investigation (SMI) B58 Detection of Carriage of Group B Streptococci was published in June 2015 and is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/438182/B_58i3.pdf
SMIs are intended as a general resource for practising professionals operating in the field of laboratory medicine and infection specialties in the United Kingdom.
They represent neither minimum standards of practice nor the highest level of complex laboratory investigation possible, and are not mandatory. Laboratories can download and adapt the method into a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) based on local policies. SMIs help laboratories to meet accreditation requirements by promoting high quality practices which are auditable. UK microbiology laboratories that do not use SMIs should be able to demonstrate at least equivalence in their testing methodologies to the relevant accreditation body.
SMI B58 describes the examination of specimens to detect carriage of Group B streptococci (GBS). SMI B58 states that it does not seek to contradict clinical guidelines from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists or the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or those of the UK National Screening Committee 2012 which did not recommend antenatal screening for GBS.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued (a) to ensure that (i) health professionals involved in the care of pregnant women and (ii) pregnant women are informed about group B Streptococcus and (b) on effectiveness of tests used within the NHS to detect carriage of group B Streptococcus.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has produced a Green-top guideline: Prevention of Early-Onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease. The Green-top guideline provides guidance for obstetricians, midwives and neonatologists on the prevention of early-onset neonatal group B streptococcal (GBS) disease. The first edition was published in 2003 and the second updated edition was published in 2012. An audit in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and supported by the Royal College of Midwives was recently carried out by the RCOG. It examined current practice in preventing early- onset neonatal GBS disease by investigating the implementation of the RCOG Green-top guideline (2012 edition) and identified key areas for improvement. The first report was published on 5 March 2015 and found that the majority of obstetric units in the United Kingdom have written protocols to prevent early onset GBS disease in newborn babies. However, there is still variation in practice across units. The second report is due to be published later this year. Further information is available at:
In addition the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a clinical guideline which addresses early-onset GBS and other neonatal infections, ‘Antibiotics for early-onset neonatal infection: Antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of early-onset neonatal infection’ (August 2012).The clinical guideline is available at:
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg149
Information on GBS in pregnancy is publically available on the NHS Choices website at:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/pregnancy-infections.aspx. The RCOG has also developed public information on early onset GBS:
In June 2015, Public Health England (PHE) published the paper, ‘Enriched culture medium test for group B streptococcus infection: position paper’. The paper concluded that within current accepted clinical guidelines, there are no indications for testing women using enriched culture medium (ECM) methods. Therefore the ECM test has not been introduced into PHE laboratories. The position paper is available on the gov.uk website at:
UK standards for microbiology investigations B58: Detection of carriage of Group B Streptococci, which was updated in June 2015, is publically available on the gov.uk website at:
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adults with autism accessed care and support under the Fair Access to Care Standards eligibility criteria in Middlesbrough in each year since 2010.
Answered by Norman Lamb
The Health and Social Care Information Centre does not collect any data on the number of adults with autism accessing care and support under the Fair Access to Care Services eligibility criteria.