Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Education of the potential merits of screening for scoliosis in schools.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is an independent scientific advisory committee that advises health ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation.

The UK NSC has reviewed screening school aged children for scoliosis in 2021 and recommended against screening. This is because there is not enough evidence to show if detecting the condition earlier through screening results in better health outcomes than waiting until symptoms develop. Details of the UK National Screening Committee’s review are available at the following link:

https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/scoliosis/