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Public information about FASP is available on the .

Healthcare professionals, including midwives, should offer screening for Down鈥檚 syndrome, Edward鈥檚 syndrome, Patau鈥檚 syndrome and 11 physical conditions to all eligible pregnant women as part of their usual antenatal care.

The FASP handbook brings together national guidance, information and processes that relate to the FASP screening pathways.

The NHS is committed to reducing inequalities and variation in participation to help make sure everyone has fair and equal access to screening services.

NHS England has also published information about patient confidentiality in population screening programmes.

Target population

Screening for Down鈥檚 syndrome is offered to all eligible pregnant women, and takes place between 10鈦衡伆 and 20鈦衡伆 weeks of pregnancy.

Screening for Edwards鈥� syndrome and Patau鈥檚 syndrome is offered to all eligible pregnant women and takes place between 10鈦衡伆 and 14鈦郝� weeks of pregnancy.

Screening for 11 physical conditions as part of the 20-week scan is offered to all pregnant women and takes place between 18鈦衡伆 and 20鈦衡伓 weeks of pregnancy. Scans can be completed up to 23鈦衡伆 weeks of pregnancy.

Conditions screened for

Information is available for the conditions screened for in the 20-week scan:

• Edwards鈥� syndrome (T18)
• Patau鈥檚 syndrome (T13)
• anencephaly
• spina bifida
• cleft lip
• congenital diaphragmatic hernia
• gastroschisis
• exomphalos
• congenital heart disease
• bilateral renal agenesis
• lethal skeletal dysplasia

Care pathways are available for Down鈥檚 syndrome, Edwards鈥� syndrome and Patau鈥檚 syndrome screening, as well as for the 20-week scan.

Screening test

The screening tests for you and your baby leaflet sets out the test process and purpose.

The combined test is offered in the first trimester to assess the chance of the baby having Down鈥檚 syndrome, Edwards鈥� syndrome or Patau鈥檚 syndrome, and is the test of choice.

The quadruple test is offered in the second trimester to assess the chance of the baby having Down鈥檚 syndrome.

The 20-week screening scan is offered to screen for Edwards鈥� syndrome and Patau鈥檚 syndrome, and 11 physical conditions.

Private screening

The private screening: important information leaflet provides information for people who ask about private screening options.

Non-invasive prenatal screening test (NIPT)

NIPT has been added to the existing NHS screening pathway for Down鈥檚 syndrome, Edwards鈥� syndrome and Patau鈥檚 syndrome as part of an evaluative rollout.

NIPT is now offered following a higher chance result (between 1 in 2 and 1 in 150) from either the combined or quadruple test in both singleton and twin pregnancies.

For more information, refer to the operational guidance on NIPT.

Find out more about NIPT on the .

Diagnostic tests

A diagnostic test is offered where a woman has received a higher chance screening test result for Down鈥檚 syndrome and/or Edwards鈥� syndrome and Patau鈥檚 syndrome, and if there are unexpected findings at the time of the ultrasound scan. This could be:

• chorionic villus sampling
• amniocentesis

CVS and amniocentesis: information for parents explains more about these tests .

Evidence base

FASP is one of 11 NHS national population screening programmes available in England.

The UK NSC makes to ministers in the 4 UK countries on all aspects of population screening. It ensures that screening provides more benefit than harm, at a reasonable cost to the NHS.

Recommendations are based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review process.

You can read the:

Data and intelligence

NHS England publishes reports setting out annual data collected from FASP.

NHS England publishes a joint antenatal screening standards data report.

Key performance indicator (KPI) data reports are available for all 11 national screening programmes.

Guidelines on handling patient information explain how to use and safeguard personal data in screening.

Requests for screening data and research

All requests for access to FASP data for research purposes need to be approved by the antenatal and newborn screening research advisory committee (RAC).

There are terms of reference for NHS population screening programme RACs.

All routine data requests (not research) should go via the .

Commissioning

NHS England publishes the 20-week screening scan pathway requirements specification and the Down鈥檚 syndrome, Edwards鈥� syndrome and Patau鈥檚 syndrome screening pathway requirements specification, which provide an overview of FASP screening by describing what should happen at each stage of the end-to-end pathways. Providers and commissioners should use these to ensure high quality and consistent screening services.

Quality assurance

Guidance is available on the FASP programme鈥檚 processes for ensuring seamless and safe screening across the whole pathway.

The programme-specific operating model for quality assurance of the FASP programme should be read in conjunction with the latest SQAS operating model and the relevant programme standards.

Down鈥檚 syndrome quality assurance support service

The Down鈥檚 syndrome screening quality assurance support service (DQASS) is commissioned by PHE to support FASP.

The main aim of DQASS is to monitor and support the quality and effectiveness of Down鈥檚 syndrome, Edward鈥檚 syndrome and Patau鈥檚 syndrome screening in England.

Workforce 鈥� education and training

Education and training resources are available for healthcare professionals working in FASP.

There are also more general resources to support screening professionals in their initial training and continuing professional development (CPD).

Keep up to date

Contact the screening team

NHS聽England screening
Wellington House
133-155 Waterloo Road
London
SE1 8UG