The public consultation on the report that the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) commissioned on antenatal screening for group B Strep carriage has now closed. We are now waiting to hear the decision of the UK NSC, taking into account not only the report they commissioned, but also all the comments submitted during the public consultation.
We were very disappointed with the report that was commissioned and disagree profoundly with many of the findings and conclusions.
The UK NSC review looked at selected evidence published since 2012 and the report recommended against introducing a screening programme. We strongly disagree with this – evidence shows that screening can and does save lives and reduces the risk of long-term disability by preventing devastating GBS infections. Our expert Medical Advisory Panel carefully examined the report and we submitted our detailed response. We disagree with a significant number of the UK NSC’s arguments. We believe the way in which the evidence has been assessed is sub-standard and inconsistent with that of other routine screening programmes. We believe the assessment does not include several key features of good screening programmes. The report is, in our view, based on very weak and wholly unconvincing evidence. You can read our response by clicking here. As soon as we are notified of the UK NSC’s formal response to the review, we’ll post here and on our social media channels. Click here to read GBSS’s response to the UK NSC’s commissioned report
