Jackie Watt is calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce new guidelines advising that all expectant mothers are given information about Strep B and are either screened for Strep B as a matter of routine or given information on where to go if they wish to be tested privately. The latest information relating to her petition and resulting actions is here.
Jackie’s petition obtained 1,874 signatures and was discussed at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee on 18 March 2014 – you can read the official transcript of the session here. Following that meeting, the Public Petitions Committee contacted the Scottish Government, the UK National Screening Committee and the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists for comment on specific issues – the written submissions available are:
- PE1505/A: UK National Screening Committee Letter of 24 April 2014 (78KB pdf)
- PE1505/B: Scottish Government Letter of 28 April 2014 (101KB pdf)
- PE1505/C: Petitioner Email of 10 June 2014 (133KB pdf)
- PE1505/D: Group B Strep Support Email of 16 June 2014 (94KB pdf)
- PE1505/E: Scottish Government Letter of 23 July 2014 (164KB pdf)
- PE1505/F: NHS Health Scotland Letter of 28 July 2014 (225KB pdf)
The Public Petitions Committee met to discuss this issue on 17 June 2014 – the papers issued before the meeting are available here. Link to official report is here.
The rate of babies with early-onset GBS infection in Scotland has more than doubled since 2000/1 (from 0.21 per live births to 0.47 per live births) and is approximately 30% higher than the rate in the rest of the UK. The argument in favour of screening, strong for all of the UK, is particularly compelling for Scotland. We hope that this Committee will be instrumental in making this a reality for families in Scotland.
