News
Latest news items added to the website
1 February 2012
2010-11 Annual Report
The 2010-11 Annual Report of the UK Newborn Screening Programme Centre for NHS Newborn Blood Spot Screening summarises the many challenges and achievements of a busy and productive year.
Key achievements highlighted in the very first Programme Centre report include the pilot of a 'Failsafe' Information System, the mandating of the NHS number (England) for use on all blood spot cards as a unique patient identifier, a review of the Phenylketonuria Clinical Referral Standards and Guidelines and securing a British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) study on congenital hypothyroidism.
During 2010-11, just over 814,000 babies were reported to have been screened, 1,547 of whom were reported to have a positive screening result that required urgent referral for further tests to confirm diagnosis and to start treatment, if required. Thank you to all that have contributed to the success of our screening programmes.
Visit our new 'Annual Reports' page to view the report.
20 January 2012
CHT screening in preterm infants
The revised policy for CHT screening in preterm infants will be implemented in all four UK countries on 1st April 2012.
1 December 2011
FootPrint December 2011 - third issue of the UKNSPC's newsletter
FootPrint is a quarterly update on all of the Programme Centre's activities. The newsletter aims to improve communication with healthcare professionals involved in newborn blood spot screening programmes and strengthen public engagement in the programmes across the UK.
The third issue is now available.
1 December 2011
Newborn blood spot card review 2011 - Consultation report now available
The newborn blood spot card review report is now available. The report gives an overview of the responses to the recent consultation and recommended revisions.
18 November 2011
Overview of the standards and their supporting documents
Standards for the newborn blood spot programme are presented in a number of different documents; the aim of this document is to provide a contemporary list of all relevant standards and to signpost towards additional information. Stakeholders are advised to visit the Standards page regularly to make sure they are viewing the most up-to-date version.
14 September 2011
Standards for offer, coverage and timely identification of untested babies
For information on our standards consultation, a summary of changes and the response from our Blood Spot Advisory Group visit our Standards page.
14 September 2011
Repeat testing for CHT in preterm babies
Changes to the repeat testing for CHT in preterm babies agreed. More information is available.
8 September 2011
FootPrint September 2011 - second issue of the UKNSPC's newsletter
FootPrint is a quarterly update on all of the Programme Centre's activities. The newsletter aims to improve communication with healthcare professionals involved in newborn blood spot screening programmes and strengthen public engagement in the programmes across the UK.
The second issue is now available.
22 August 2011
UKNSPC Internship Programme Pilot
The UKNSPC recently piloted an internship programme for students aged 16-18 who are interested in obtaining work experience and learning more about the public health system in the UK. Adam Taoudi, a student from Islington in London, joined the Programme Centre for a week in August. Adam attended the biannual Blood Spot Advisory Group meeting, undertook a course at University College London and helped with administrative tasks in the Programme Centre.
Adam has also written a brief article about his experiences at the Programme Centre for the second edition of the UKNSPC newsletter, which will be released shortly.
