Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2018 to Question 217546, on Down's Syndrome, what plans she has to address the effect of her Department's description of Down's Syndrome as an abnormality on (a) people with Down's Syndrome who read or hear that description and (b) familities who read or hear that description of a member of their family either before or after birth.

NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme offers screening to all eligible pregnant women in England to check the baby for 12 fetal anomalies which include Down’s, Edwards’ and Patau’s syndromes. Fetal anomalies are described as structural abnormalities of the developing fetus.

The characteristics, causes and complications of Down’s Syndrome are described on NHS.UK and there is additional information on the support available to families expecting, or who have had a baby with Down’s Syndrome.

Public Health England provides a Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme Handbook which offers practical guidance to support healthcare professionals in the operational delivery of the screening pathway. NHS England encourages clinical staff to refer to these sources of information when explaining Down’s Syndrome to families.

NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme requires that there is equal access to uniform and quality-assured screening across England, and women are provided with high quality information so they can make an personal informed choice about their screening and pregnancy options. Education and training resources are available for staff covering all stages of the process, from informing women of test availability, through to understanding and supporting their decisions.