Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether research has been conducted on the use of pulse oximetry as an additional test in screening all babies in the context of the Newborn and Infant Physical Examination programme.

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) looked at the evidence to use pulse oximetry (PO) as an additional test in the Newborn and Infant Physical Examination programme in 2019. The UK NSC recommended that there were still crucial gaps in the evidence to determine whether PO could be offered within a population screening programme to all newborn babies, as it was unclear whether PO would benefit or cause harm in finding babies with mild hypoxaemia or abnormally low oxygen blood levels.

The UK NSC supported the call for further research to help explore the uncertainties of the offer of PO in all babies, before a final recommendation is made. In 2020, the National Institute of Health Research made a call for evidence and a feasibility report is underway.