Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the at risk population have been screened for (a) sickle cell disease and (b) thalassaemia in each (i) clinical commissioning group area, (ii) trust area and (iii) national sickle cell and thalassaemia centre area; and what proportion of that population were so screened in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programme is an antenatal population screening programme which is offered to all pregnant women regardless of their risk, and to fathers to be, where antenatal screening shows that the mother is a genetic carrier. The offer to be screened is a joint offer.

Screening coverage for sickle cell and thalassaemia is reported by region only and can be accessed below:

http://www.phoutcomes.info/search/SICKLE%20CELL

Screening data for sickle cell and thalassaemia by NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups over the last three years can be viewed:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nhs-screening-programmes-national-data-reporting

Newborn babies are screened for sickle cell as part of the newborn blood spot screening programme. Data in screening for sickle cell and thalassaemia in the Newborn Blood Spot Programme over the last three years is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nhs-screening-programmes-national-data-reporting

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