Frequently asked questions - professionals
Information for health professionals on newborn blood spot screening.
- Are there any teaching resources available on the newborn blood spot screening programme?
- Where can I access information on the screening programme in Polish?
- Is it necessary to discard the first drop of blood when taking the newborn blood spot sample?
- Why is the blood spot sample not taken on day 1 (day of birth is day 0)?
- How long does it take for the laboratory to process a repeat blood spot sample?
- Is a repeat screening test still required at 4 months post-transfusion for sickle cell disease?
- How do we order more newborn blood spot cards?
- We are a private maternity clinic. How do we order newborn blood spot cards and pre-paid envelopes?
- What is expanded newborn screening?
- If the baby is taking antibiotics can this affect the result of the heel-prick test?
- What is the upper age limit for screening?
- If we receive a 'Declined' notification on a baby who is older than 8 weeks, which status code should we use to report the cystic fibrosis screening result?
- A baby had a blood spot sample taken outside of the UK but the parents do not know the results and do not know which conditions the baby was screened for. The baby is older than 8 weeks but under a year old. Do we offer the parents repeat blood spot testing for their baby in the UK?
- How do I obtain data on the number of carriers identified each year for cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease?
- How can I find out which conditions each UK country screens for, and when each condition was implemented?
- Why is there a difference between the conditions screened for in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
- Recording newborn screening results
