PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Out of Area Treatment: Wales (10 June 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that pregnant women living in England but registered with GPs in Wales have the option of a nuchal translucency scan as part of their antenatal care.

Asked by:
Jesse Norman (Conservative)

Nuchal translucency scans are offered to pregnant women as part of the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening programme (NHS FASP). This is a public health function of the Secretary of State which, through an arrangement under section 7A of the National Health Service Act 2006, is exercised by NHS England.

NHS England has confirmed that women living in England and registered with a GP in contract with the Welsh NHS who opt to give birth in an English hospital are offered nuchal translucency scans, in line with NHS FASP's 2011–2014 Model of Best Practice. I understand that nuchal transparency scans are not currently routinely offered by the Welsh NHS.

As part of its review of the protocol for cross-border healthcare, NHS England is giving consideration to a number of issues, including this one.

Answered by:
Dr Dan Poulter (Labour)
16 June 2014