Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many babies were born with conditions not picked up during screening tests in each of the last ten years for which data is available.

The information requested is not held centrally. There is no specific field in the Maternity Services Dataset (MSDS) to capture screening results. Screening tests offered during pregnancy can be captured in MSDS via SNOMED codes, however information relating to screenings tests is not routinely collected or published. Therefore, data recorded in the MSDS via SNOMED codes is currently unlikely to cover screening test results, and mainly either describes whether the screening test was offered or took place, or whether it is entirely absent. Everyone who is eligible is invited to undertake antenatal screening during pregnancy. However, the offer relies on informed consent. Some parents may choose not to undertake screening tests. The current opt in rate is relatively high at around 70%.

No screening test is 100% accurate and they can have false positive and false negative results. In England, any laboratory undertaking screening tests as part of the National Health Service’s antenatal and newborn screening programmes is required to adhere to rigorous testing processes in line with individual screening programme handbooks and must also be accredited by the UK Accreditation Service to the International Organization for Standardization’s requirements for quality and competence in medical laboratories, ISO 15189:2022, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.iso.org/standard/76677.html

The UK National Screening Committee keeps all screening programmes under review. Work is ongoing to look at tests that could be included in antenatal screening programmes to increase detection or reduce the need for further invasive diagnostic tests.