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Written question asked by Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative) on Monday, 3 July 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 6 July 2017 (named day). It was answered by Philip Dunne (Conservative) on Thursday, 6 July 2017 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Pregnancy: Streptococcus

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on reviewing UK National Screening Committee guidance on Group B strep prevention; and if he will make a statement.

Answer

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy, using research evidence, pilot programmes and economic evaluation; it assesses the evidence for programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria. Guidance on early onset neonatal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and other neonatal disease is provided by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Following the UK NSC’s meeting in February 2017, the Minister accepted the UK NSC’s recommendation that a population based screening programme for GBS carriage should not be offered. This is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening would outweigh the harms.

Although a population screening programme has not been recommended, the Chief Scientific Advisor recommended that the National Institute of Health Research should commission a clinical trial to compare universal screening for GBS against usual-risk based care. The Minister approved this and it is expected that the trial will provide better quality evidence to assess the clinical effectiveness, benefits and harms of a screening programme.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
2421
Session
2017-19
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Pregnancy Streptococcus
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk