Written Question·Department of Health and Social Care·UIN 118632

Hereditary Diseases: Babies

Tabled: 6 March 2026
Answered: 16 March 2026
Named Day

Question

Freddie van Mierlo

Liberal DemocratHenley and Thame

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has assessed the potential merits of introducing measures to accelerate the roll-out of new newborn screening programmes for genetic diseases.

Answer

Mrs Sharon Hodgson
NHS England is currently planning a large-scale in-service evaluation (ISE) of screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which is a genetic condition, in newborn screening services to start in January 2027. Over 400,000 babies would be offered screenin...

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