Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of children who received a diagnosis of Foetal Valproate Spectrum Disorder between (a) January 2010 to 2015, (b) January 2015 to 2020 and (c) January 2020 to 2025.

Everyone who has been harmed from sodium valproate has our deepest sympathies. The information requested is not collected centrally.

The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England, which collects and quality assures data about people with congenital anomalies and rare diseases across the whole of England, is assessing the feasibility and reliability of better ascertainment of foetal sodium valproate syndrome by linking data in the congenital anomaly register to primary care prescription data. Further information on the National Disease Registration Service is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs