Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) help tackle high rates of Group B Strep infection and (b) improve access to (i) screening, (ii) diagnosis and (iii) treatment for Group B Strep infections in (A) Black and (B) Asian (1) women and (2) babies.

Practitioners are expected to take a risk-based approach to the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of group B streptococcus (GBS). Under current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, pregnant women who are known to carry GBS, or who have risk factors such as a previous baby with GBS infection or fever during labour, should be offered antibiotics during labour to help prevent early-onset infection in their baby.

People from certain ethnic groups may be predisposed to health conditions which may affect their maternity outcomes, and a study led by the UK Health Security Agency did conclude that the rate of GBS was higher in those of black or Asian ethnicity.

To improve understanding, prevention, and treatment of GBS infection, the Department is supporting a trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. It aims to determine whether routine testing for GBS for all women, either in late pregnancy or on admission for labour with point of care testing, reduces early-onset neonatal sepsis compared to the current approach of risk-based screening.

Findings from the trial will be submitted to the Department and reviewed by the UK National Screening Committee to inform future decisions on national screening policy.