Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on screening new born children for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has been working with partners to scope an in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in real world National Health Services in the United Kingdom.

The research brief that will inform this in-service evaluation has now been published, and the call for applicants is live.

Results from the in-service evaluation, along with a new SMA screening modelling study, will inform any recommendation made by the UK NSC on whether to screen newborn babies for this condition.