The NHS Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia Screening Programme is rolling out newborn screening for Sickle Cell Disorders and antenatal screening for Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Disorders in England.

Newborn Screening: Offer of sickle cell screening to all infants as an integral part of the newborn bloodspot screening programme.

All 13 newborn laboratories in England have implemented screening for sickle cell disorders. Please see list bellow:

• Birmingham, West Midlands
• Bristol
• Cambridge
• Great Ormond Street
• King's College Hospital
• Leeds
• Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Oxford Lab - Thames Valley
• Portsmouth Lab
• Haematology St. Helier Hospital, Carshalton
• Sheffield

Regional maps highlighting implementation rollout in newborn labs up to May 2005 are available for viewing or printing here.

Antenatal Screening: Offer of sickle cell and thalassaemia screening to all women as an integral part of early antenatal care.

Prevalence of Haemoglobinopathies

The form of antenatal screening for haemoglobin variants will depend on the prevalence of the condition:

High prevalence trusts will offer populations both Thalassaemia and haemoglobin variant screening by end of 2004/5. A list of High Prevalence Trusts is available from the weblink below:

High Prevalence Trusts (April 2007)

Low prevalence trusts will be required to offer screening for variants based on an assessment of risk determined by a question to women about their and their baby’s father’s family origin by end of 2005/6. A list of Low Prevalence Trusts is available from the weblink below:

Low Prevalence Trusts (Mar 2008)

Regional Low Prevalence Plan