Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all 100 community diagnostic hubs implement NICE guideline NG78 to include diagnostic tests to detect fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis is mainly detected in new-born babies as part of the heel prick test. Otherwise, it is normally diagnosed by a combination of gene sequencing from blood tests and a sweat test, which is performed at specialist centres. Long term follow-up of lung function, or spirometry, is similarly performed at specialist centres. As such, this patient group and diagnosis is not in scope for community diagnostic centres.