Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their strategy towards the treatment of sickle cell disease.

The vast majority of sickle cell disease (SCD) affected children born in England are identified by the NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening programme, and other patients may present through migration or late diagnosis

SCD is a lifelong condition, and NHS England provides high quality care for patients with SCD as part of its specialised commissioning responsibilities. NHS England’s Haemaglobinopathies service specification clearly sets out what providers must have in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services.

Although SCD patient care will be coordinated by a Specialist Haemoglobinopathy Centre (SHC), the majority of care may be delivered outside of the SHC by a range of providers. The configuration of care provision will be based on local prevalence, expertise and availability of service providers, and this may include acute hospitals, community care, primary care and the voluntary sector.

Information concerning the number of SCD patients in each parliamentary constituency is not collected. However, NHS England’s service specification sets out that there are around 15,000 patients with SCD living in England at present. In England SCD occurs predominantly, but not exclusively, in ethnic minority communities. It is the most common inherited condition in England and around 350 babies with SCD are born each year.