Many of us have heard the quote from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus that “there is nothing permanent except change”. I'm sure this could be applied to all our lives in all sorts of different ways but at the moment the big change for many of us is that after 8 years, Public Health England (PHE) will cease to exist from midnight tonight. Whilst that signals a period of change for many of us in public health, it also opens up a number of opportunities for screening.
From 1 October, national screening colleagues will be either based in NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI), or the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The vast majority of PHE screening colleagues will now be moving into NHSEI.
The NHSEI central public health commissioning and operations (PHCO) team is already responsible for the oversight of the commissioning and operational delivery of our NHS screening services. It does this by working with NHSEI regional public health commissioning teams who manage the provider services to meet the service specifications.
The national PHE screening programme teams and some cross-programme colleagues (supporting functions such as education and training, and the helpdesk) are moving into the central PHCO team. SQAS colleagues will be moving into the NHSEI medical directorate.
A small group of colleagues will be moving to DHSC to become part of the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), set up as a home for those PHE functions which will not be moving to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
The screening team in OHID will include the secretariat for the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), and will focus on the evidence base for screening and supporting the NHS to translate the evidence into the best possible screening programmes.
To borrow a phrase we used when we first became part of PHE in 2013, from tomorrow things will be “the same but different”. We’re all very much focussed on maintaining business as usual, though inevitably people in new organisations and potentially whose roles have changed slightly will need a little time to settle in.
During the transition, whilst you might notice fewer communications from the national teams for a while, the screening helpdesk will still be around to answer any questions you have. You can contact them in the usual way.
We will still be working hard on all our joint priorities and hope that the new system will make it even easier to deliver those significant programme improvements – like the NHS bowel screening age extension and antenatal screening SCID and NIPT evaluations – that keep our NHS screening programmes at the international cutting edge.
The screening teams in NHSEI and DHSC will be looking carefully over the next few months at the best ways to keep in touch moving forward and will be publicising any new communications channels in due course. As ever, if you have any ideas of what you'd find useful please let us know.
Whilst change inevitably brings challenges, everyone involved in screening at national, regional and local level remains passionate about supporting our screening services across England to be the very best they can possibly be.
So to all of you who work in screening providers or commissioners, or are involved in the research that informs the UK NSC recommendations and that continually makes the programmes better, and to anyone else with an interest or commitment to screening – I'd like to thank you for engaging with us over the last 8 years.
All of us, in NHSEI and in DHSC, look forward to carrying on working with you just as effectively in the new system.
It would be impossible not to mention the success of the PHE Screening blog over the last 6 years. I know that some people were a bit wary when we first set up the blog to replace the old screening newsletters. But you've all taken it to heart and I understand that we've now published almost 1,000 blog articles, have well over 10,000 subscribers and that over 750,000 different people have read the blog since it started back on 24 June 2015 with a look at our new content on GOV.UK.
But all good things come to an end and the current blog and Twitter account will be closing (though they'll remain accessible as historical archives).
The new UK NSC blog will be continuing, so do remember to subscribe to that if you'd like to keep in touch with the latest news on screening evidence and policy.
Here is a round-up of each and every Public Health England (PHE) screening blog post published in August and September 2021. There were 33 in total.
Pinging in the changes – update on text messaging in screening
Text messaging has become an increasingly important tool to communicate and connect with patients.
Fourth quarterly KPI data for 2020 to 2021 published
We published the fourth set of quarterly 2020 to 2021 key performance indicator (KPI) data for the NHS screening programmes.
Find the screening information you need on GOV.UK
Some handy tips for finding the information you need on GOV.UK.
Report published marking 25 years of UK National Screening Committee
We published a report summarising the work of the UK National Screening Committee over the past 25 years.
New guidance to help NHS antenatal and newborn screening providers tackle inequalities
New national guidance published to support antenatal and newborn (ANNB) screening providers in addressing inequalities throughout the screening pathway.
Your chance to suggest a new NHS screening programme
The 6th annual UK National Screening Committee call for new screening ‘topics’ (conditions) is now open.
New guidance to help NHS breast screening providers and commissioners tackle inequalities
New national guidance published to support providers in addressing inequalities throughout the breast screening programme pathway.
NHS bowel cancer screening pathologists lead the way virtually
Read about how the bowel cancer screening pathology study days were held virtually and what's coming next.
Cervical Screening Saves Lives – evaluating the national campaign
The first national ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign ran from 5 March 2019 to 30 April 2019 in England, as part of the wider Be Clear on Cancer initiative.
We have selected 32 sites to take part in the HPValidate study.
Guidance on managing the NHS diabetic eye screening register updated
We updated guidance on how to manage 'missed individuals' on the DES screening register.
Short film helps reassure people about Covid safety of NHS diabetic eye screening clinics
Short film helps reassure people about the measures in place to keep them safe at diabetic eye screening appointments.
All 57 diabetic eye screening providers successfully submitted data to this year’s National Diabetes Audit which now includes a complete picture of the diabetic eye screening care process nationally.
Updated national FASP screening standards published
This is the first major review of the FASP screening standards since they were introduced in 2016.
DQASS reporting website goes live
The Down’s syndrome screening quality assurance support service (DQASS) monitors and supports the quality and effectiveness of Down’s syndrome (T21), Edwards’ syndrome (T18) and Patau’s syndrome (T13) screening in England.
You said, we did – NIPT result templates
You told us you wanted result templates to provide lower chance results to women following non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) screening.
WHO highlights role of screening and vaccination in reaching hepatitis B control targets
The PHE IDPS programme and PHE immunisation team are celebrating after a commendation for the UK in achieving regional hepatitis B control targets.
Tell us what you think about the draft IDPS laboratory handbook
The PHE infectious diseases in pregnancy screening (IDPS) programme national team is seeking feedback on a draft version of the updated laboratory handbook.
New resources to help improve quality of samples taken in NHS newborn blood spot screening
When carrying out NHS newborn blood spot (NBS) screening, good quality samples are vital to make sure babies with rare but serious conditions are identified and treated early.
When blood spot sample takers need to begin offering SCID screening
Read about the dates blood spot takers need to start offering parents and carers severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) screening as part of an evaluation in England.
Launch of new NHS SCID screening resources for parents and professionals
An evaluation into screening babies for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in England starts on 6 September 2021. This article describes some of the new resources for parents and professionals that have been developed for the evaluation and points you towards where you can find them.
SCID e-learning resource launches
We’re really pleased to launch our new SCID screening e-learning resource.
Valuable feedback from newborn blood spot failsafe solution (NBSFS) survey
The PHE newborn blood spot (NBS) screening team has analysed results from its evaluation survey of the newborn blood spot failsafe solution.
Evaluation launches of newborn screening for SCID in the NHS
An evaluation of newborn blood spot screening for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) launches today in some parts of England.
The story of Sheila Jones and unlocking the treatment for phenylketonuria
Find out about the first child in the world to receive dietary treatment for phenylketonuria (PKU).
100th candidate completes NHS newborn hearing screening competency assessment
The 100th candidate successfully completed the external competency assessment (ECA) in September 2021.
NHSP standards consultation responses and supporting data report published
We have published a summary of the responses received, as well as a data report to provide evidence for the proposed changes in response to comments received.
NHS newborn hearing screening: 11 million babies and counting
The NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme has played a major role in identifying moderate to profound hearing loss in newborn babies in England and has reached another major milestone, having now screened 11 million babies.
NIPE screening team celebrates full roll out of SMaRT4NIPE (S4N) IT system and national standards
Read about the full roll out of S4N across England and other recent PHE NIPE screening team achievements.
SCT screening support service available for expert advice
The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Support Service in Oxford provides expert technical and scientific support to screening services.
Time to embed the newborn outcomes solution into clinical practice
Read about the newborn outcomes (NBO) solution, a web-based system for referring newborn babies who screen positive for sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassaemia.
New date for specialist sickle cell and thalassaemia counsellor update course
The team is pleased to announce a new date for the very popular specialist counsellor update course – 8 December 2021.
New development in the newborn outcomes solution
Changes to the newborn outcomes solution reflect feedback from users and include improvements for laboratory users and changes to data entry pages for laboratory and clinical (nurse/medical) users.
Other new publications we published in August and September included:
Other existing publications we updated in August and September included:
When carrying out NHS newborn blood spot (NBS) screening, good quality samples are vital to make sure babies with rare but serious conditions are identified and treated early.
A good quality blood spot sample is one that:
Good quality samples should be obtained first time to prevent the need for avoidable repeats. Avoidable repeat samples can cause anxiety for parents, distress to babies and delays in the screening process. They are also a waste of resources.
The NHS NBS Screening Programme monitors the number of avoidable repeats through a screening standard (NBS-S06) and key performance indicator (KPI) (NB2). Meeting the acceptable threshold (≤2% of samples requiring an avoidable repeat) remains a challenge for many maternity providers.
In January 2020, we published a document to share learning from the best performing maternity units. This was a great start, but we wanted to go further.
We knew that some local services had developed their own resources which, in some cases, had helped to reduce their avoidable repeat rates. In order to further share learning, colleagues from the Screening Quality Assurance Service took part in a working group to collate and develop these resources so we could publish them nationally.
Providers were asked to share any locally-produced documents they had found helpful. The working group reviewed and amended them so they could be shared more widely. These amended resources were then approved by a national task and finish group.
The final resources include:
Access and download the new resources to help reduce avoidable repeat rates. They consist of:
Thanks go to the following organisations who kindly agreed to share their resources with us:
Text messaging has become an increasingly important tool to communicate and connect with patients.
Whether it is to provide a GP’s endorsement or to remind people of an upcoming appointment, texts are a versatile and low-cost way of helping people to navigate screening.
Text messages have also been shown to help break down barriers – in some circumstances they have helped increase screening attendance rates by as much as 5%.
Screening, however, can present unique challenges when it comes to text messages.
Unlike outpatient or GP appointments, where a patient may be expecting to be contacted, people may not necessarily have had any experience with screening services sending them messages.
In addition, programmes must send messages to thousands of people, each with differing communication, health, and accessibility needs.
Making these messages universally acceptable and non-coercive is crucial, but can be difficult.
In September 2020 PHE published its national guidance, Screening text message principles, to help support screening services.
This work used the available evidence to provide initial recommendations on how screening services could implement text messaging. The original principles focused on 5 main areas: content, timing, security and governance, evaluation and delivery.
However, mobile technology and messaging continues to evolve. Therefore, the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and Public Health England (PHE) Screening looked to:
There were a lot of things to consider when we embarked upon the next stage of research into text messaging in screening. For example, the fact that each local screening service will have its own needs and specifications.
To address this in the latest study, we used a modified Delphi design – which is where is where you recruit experts and get them to repeatedly vote on things until you reach consensus.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to recruit more than 30 experts with a broad range of experience in different programmes from across England. We presented experts with open-ended prompts to gain a better understanding of the issues involved in messaging in screening.
We also invited a large public group to give us their opinions online on various messaging topics.
Using the results from both information gathering rounds, as well as the evidence synthesis, we then developed potential recommendations for screening text messaging – expanding on the original principles.
More than 100 potential recommendations were presented to the experts, and they were asked to vote on how important an item was to screening services and how feasible it would be to introduce the recommendation.
This process was repeated over 2 cycles with previous anonymous expert ratings, public comments, and the guidance of specialist departments (for example, the National Cyber Security Centre), to see how the voting changed.
Despite busy schedules and tackling the pandemic, we were amazed and grateful to find all of those recruited responded.
The findings were then discussed in a structured meeting, so that experts had a further opportunity to raise any potential issues they foresaw.
From our work we have managed to put together a list of core recommendations on screening text messaging that experts and the public feel are important and feasible to follow.
We have also managed to find areas that are considered important, but not yet easily implemented into screening mobile messaging. As technology and capabilities evolve, these desired areas maybe potentially of use, and could be further explored in the future.
We are now looking to make our findings widely available to all stakeholders and are working with PHE colleagues to update the current text messaging principles on the GOV.UK website. We will also be publishing our work in an academic journal.
The next steps for this project would be to see how these core and desired items differ across healthcare systems internationally. This will help us compare and learn from international experiences.
]]>We are pleased to publish the updated NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (FASP) screening standards. This is the first major review of the FASP screening standards since they were introduced in 2016.
View the new standards.
We have updated these standards in line with our national approach to setting screening standards and they will be valid for data collected from 1 April 2022. Hopefully this gives you lots of time to look at the standards and prepare for any changes before data collection starts.
Standards provide reliable and timely information about the quality of screening services at local, regional and national levels. Local providers should aim to meet performance thresholds for each national standard to make sure screening services are safe and effective.
We would like to thank the various members of the task and finish group who led the revision and to all of you who provided feedback during the 8-week public consultation.
We highlight some changes here but the full list of changes can be found in the supporting information.
In terms of general changes we have:
We would also like to highlight some specific changes to the following standards.
In both FASP-S01 (coverage: T21/T18/T13 screening) and FASP-S02 (coverage: 20-week screening scan) we have made changes to the exclusion category.
In both standards, the exclusion ‘women who choose to have private screening and do not wish to have NHS screening’ was moved to the subset of declines. This is because women who have had private screening are still eligible for, and should be offered, NHS FASP screening.
In FASP-S02, the exclusion ‘women who are offered an appointment within the optimum time but choose to attend at a different time for personal reasons’ was moved to the subset of women left to follow up. This is because evidence shows this is masking inequalities in some services. The removal of this exclusion will have minimal impact on performance at an England level.
This is one of the standards we had to renumber but you will remember it as the old FASP-S09. This revised standard will look at test turnaround times for QF-PCR testing only.
The National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service (NCARDRS) will collect data on this standard.
We added 2 new conditions. These are:
These conditions were added to FASP-S04 to drive improvements in detection rates.
NCARDRS data shows that coarctation of the aorta has the highest number of diagnoses of all cardiac conditions not currently part of FASP-S04. There are no changes to the ultrasound requirements and practitioners should continue to use the 3 vessel and trachea (3VT) view as part of the existing fetal cardiac protocol.
We recommend ultrasound practitioners performing the 20-week screening scan should complete the fetal cardiac e-learning resource every 24 months.
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) was added because NCARDRS data shows regional variations in detection rates. Antenatal diagnosis of CDH also leads to significantly improved health outcomes. This condition can be assessed using the existing base menu.
Revised performance thresholds are:
This standard was implemented in April 2020 and is collected quarterly as the KPI FA4. During the first year of collection we validated the data to resolve any issues and improve data quality. We also analysed the data at maternity service level in order to set performance thresholds from 2021 to 2022 . These are:
We have not set thresholds for the achievable levels yet. We’ll keep the data under review and look to set achievable thresholds in the future.
The definition now refers to timeliness of attendance at an appointment either virtual or face to face. This was changed from ‘offer of appointment’ due to data quality issues.
NCARDRS will now report on this standard to improve data completeness and quality.
Revised performance thresholds are:
Please report all unexpected findings at 20 week screening scan and following referral scans to NCARDRS in as close to real time as possible.
]]>The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Support Service in Oxford provides expert technical and scientific support to screening services. We have felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, like all laboratory services nationally, but have remained open for business throughout.
Many of us are working remotely, which has meant more reliance on email rather than phone calls, but we continue to deal with the enquiries and provide the help and advice needed in a timely manner.
We encourage screening services to contact us with their queries as we continue to meet the demands of the service even under these challenging circumstances.
We are open Monday to Fridays 9am to 5pm and you can contact us at Lab.Support@nhs.net or on 01865 572767.
There were noticeably fewer enquiries from clinicians during the first period of ‘lockdown’ restrictions, compared to the previous 6 months. We thought this was probably related to a reduction in face-to-face appointments and prioritisation of more urgent medical referrals at the time.
During the first lockdown period, we noticed an increase in enquiries about incidental laboratory findings from patients which were neither antenatal nor newborn screening related. This may have represented a slowdown in work in some laboratories and possibly more time to investigate unusual results. This apparent increase appeared to be short-lived as it did not continue into the second lockdown period and beyond.
Throughout the pandemic the numbers of pregnancy related enquiries from haemoglobinopathy screening midwives, screening co-ordinators and genetic counsellors, as well as screening laboratory scientists, have remained fairly constant.
Some clinicians sought to reduce hospital / GP appointments, especially when there are vulnerable family members who needed to shield. There were a few requests for guidance about the re-issue of maternal/paternal results from previous pregnancies.
The numbers of Hb Variant queries reduced during the first few months of the pandemic but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels. These queries were mostly in the antenatal category. We also noticed an initial drop in beta thalassaemia related queries, but they have increased more recently and are mostly related to concerns over borderline Hb A2 levels and Hb A2 levels that differ between pregnancies.
We at the Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Support Service are dedicated to providing a good service to all our users. Your feedback is very important to us, so please remember to let us know your thoughts after using the service.
]]>The Down’s syndrome screening quality assurance support service (DQASS) monitors and supports the quality and effectiveness of Down’s syndrome (T21), Edwards’ syndrome (T18) and Patau’s syndrome (T13) screening in England. DQASS provides feedback and support to laboratories, sonographers, the Screening Quality Assurance Service (SQAS) and to the PHE fetal anomaly screening team.
Over the last few years, we have been developing the DQASS reporting website. This is a new tool for screening support sonographers (SSSs) to access:
We have done a phased rollout of the reporting website to allow us to identify and solve problems along the way and get feedback from users.
We will launch the website on 1 October 2021, and from this date, we will no longer be sending your DQASS reports as email attachments.
Compared to sending reports via email attachments, the DQASS reporting website:
Please email us at dqass@plymouth.ac.uk ifyou do not have a username for the DQASS reporting website and ask us to add your details to the system. We will send you a username and a welcome email with instructions on how to access and use the website.
If you already have a username and a password for the DQASS reporting website you do not need to do any more. You will receive an email from us when your next set of reports are available.
Our next phase will involve adding laboratory summary reports to the DQASS reporting website. This means that you will be able to access all of the reports we send you routinely from the DQASS reporting website.
We would like to say thank you to all of those who helped us get this up and running.
Verity John, SSS at Royal United Hospitals Bath, said:
]]>The new DQASS reporting portal allows you to look back at previous cycles and compare results directly. It’s a lovely quick and easy tool!
The PHE infectious diseases in pregnancy screening (IDPS) programme and PHE immunisation team are celebrating after a commendation for the UK in achieving regional hepatitis B control targets.
The commendation came from the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation which provides independent review of vaccine-preventable diseases and immunisation programmes in Europe.
Infant immunisation and antenatal screening data submitted by Public Health England (PHE) on behalf of all UK nations showed that the UK attained high (>90%) coverage of hepatitis B vaccine through the universal infant programme and interventions to prevent perinatal (during pregnancy or in first year following birth) transmission of hepatitis B virus.
This means the UK has maintained a hepatitis B prevalence below 0.5% in pregnant women and in infants born to women with hepatitis B.
This fantastic achievement is down, in large part, to:
The latest NHS antenatal screening standards data report showed:
Huge thanks are due to primary care staff who provide the subsequent doses of hepatitis B vaccine and test these infants at 12 months of age to exclude infection. Recent guidance on the hepatitis B: antenatal screening and selective neonatal immunisation pathway supports this work.
Primary care play a pivotal role in delivering the universal hepatitis B infant immunisation programme with the hexavalent combination vaccine. It also helps make sure close household contacts of people with hepatitis B infection are tested and vaccinated.
Prevention and control of hepatitis B in the UK is also dependent on diagnosing and vaccinating at risk adults, as recommended the hepatitis B chapter of the green book.
This work is usually carried out by:
We await final validation of the UK achieving the control targets in 2022 after the WHO/UNICEF report on immunisation is published. It will appear on the WHO vaccines and immunisation publications page when it goes live.
In the meantime, through collective and concerted efforts, we continue to strive towards the global goal of elimination of hepatitis B as a public health problem.
More information about hepatitis B is available via the NHS infectious diseases in pregnancy screening e-learning module.
Contact the screening helpdesk if you have any questions about antenatal screening for hepatitis B. Email immunisation@phe.gov.uk if you have queries about hepatitis B immunisation.
]]>The first national ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign ran from 5 March 2019 to 30 April 2019 in England, as part of the wider Be Clear on Cancer initiative. An evaluation of the campaign shows there appears to have been a broadly positive impact and this can be used to help plan future interventions.
Deciding whether to be screened is always a personal choice. The aim of the campaign was to raise awareness of the risks of cervical cancer and highlight the preventative benefits of screening to improve attendance across England.
Worryingly, in 2018, coverage had reached a 20-year low, with 1 in 4 women in the UK not attending their test.
The core campaign messages were:
Evaluating the effectiveness of the campaign helps us to plan future campaigns and understand whether messages from the campaign reached those who had not previously taken up the screening offer.
A Public Health England (PHE) working group was formed with members from PHE Screening, NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) and the PHE National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS). The group agreed a series of evaluation measures for the campaign, each focusing on a point in the patient pathway. For example, GP attendances for cervical screening and cervical screening coverage.
Measures were selected for which routine data collections were already in place or could be obtained to support the campaign evaluation. Each of these data collections has a different schedule for collation, validation and analysis of data. The working group has been meeting regularly over the 2 years since the campaign to review and discuss the data as it has become available.
For each measure a review of the data was carried out to assess the impact of the campaign. Data for the campaign period was compared with the previous year to see if there was a statistically significant change in the data.
Data was evaluated for the NHS cervical screening programme in England. Data measures included were from:
Nearly 340,000 cervical screening samples were received by laboratories in England during March 2019, the first month of the campaign. This was a 19% increase on the previous year. Statistically significant increases were seen over the next few months (12% to April 2019, 9% to May 2019, 2% to June 2019).
This seemed to show an increase in activity during the period of the campaign and just after.
For the cancer registration data analysis, the impact of the campaign can be demonstrated in results such as the significant increase in GP attendances for women who were eligible for cervical screening and the impact on the numbers of all gynaecological and cervical cancer diagnoses recorded in the Cancer Waiting Times (CWT) database.
Data on GP attendance for cervical screening tests was analysed for the periods before and after the campaign. There was a significant increase of 18.7% in women aged 25 to 49 years and 25.2% in women aged 50 to 64 years in GP attendances for cervical screening test per practice.
The wider impact of the campaign may have extended beyond intended targets to the number of cervical screening test non-attenders and women who attend their GP practice to undergo cervical screening but are not eligible.
The ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign was the first national campaign for the NHS cervical screening programme and it was great to see the commitment, interest and collaborations at a local, regional and national level, as well as across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
The PHE Screening blog provides up to date news from all NHS screening programmes. You can register to receive updates direct to your inbox, so there’s no need to keep checking for new blogs. If you have any questions about this blog article, or about population screening in England, please contact the PHE screening helpdesk.
]]>In 2017, the Health Screening Diploma (HSD) became the recommended training for newborn hearing screeners. It provides assurance of a hearing screener’s competence to undertake screening safely, independently and in line with programme standards. Before it can be completed, screeners must first complete:
The ECA was introduced in virtual format from April 2020. It replaced the previous observed structured clinical examination (OSCE) and ensured screeners continued to be assessed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This avoided delays in training and supported service delivery.
The ECA assesses a candidate’s understanding and knowledge of the screening pathway. Feedback from the ECA can also provide evidence towards a candidate’s HSD. An ECA is composed of 2 sessions of 40 to 45 minutes, with a short break in between. After the assessment, the assessors verbally deliver the candidate’s result providing feedback on what they did well and what needs more work.
A team of NHSP local managers from across England volunteer their time as assessors. We need to expand this team to be able to meet the demand for ECAs from services.
If you have a certificate of assessing vocational achievement (CAVA), or any experience in assessing newborn hearing screeners within your team and would be interested in volunteering to support the ECA process, please complete this short questionnaire.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some audiologists were trained and assessed locally to support the delivery of newborn hearing screening. It was not deemed essential for them to complete an ECA, given the pressures on services at the time. From 1 October 2021 any staff member who holds a current professional registration in a healthcare role (such as a health visitor, audiologist or midwife) and performs automated, auditory brainstem response (AABR) screening must complete an ECA. They are not required to complete the HSD.
The ECA has been positively received and our 100th candidate successfully completed in September 2021. Feedback received has shown that local managers have found the process of booking a candidate ‘very smooth’ and that the virtual assessment is ‘very accessible and preferred to face to face assessments’.
Here, Bethan Chandler, a qualified midwife and recent candidate, shares her positive experience of the ECA:
Before the ECA, I felt quite nervous about the prospect of an oral assessment and I did not know what to expect. I spent a lot of time:
- practising – how I would offer screening to parents, what information to include and possible outcomes
- asking my experienced colleagues questions – to truly understand the screening pathway and our local operational procedures
- working through and recapping the NHSP e-learning modules – which I found to be extremely thorough, informative and effective
I was nervous on the day of the ECA, but as soon as the call connected, I was put completely at ease by 2 professional, kind and knowledgeable assessors. They reassured me immediately and reminded me that they were there to support me with open questioning, to allow me to explore my understanding of the pathway. They encouraged me to revisit anything I inadvertently left out.
I was informed that day that I had passed the ECA and that I could expect an email within the following 5 working days, which would break down how I had scored.
I found the ECA to be an extremely positive experience – one which in hindsight I need not have been nervous about. I now feel much more confident in my knowledge of the pathway and I am so very pleased to be able to offer newborn hearing screening as a qualified screener.
Bethan’s top tips for anyone preparing for the ECA are to:
Further details of training requirements for newborn hearing screeners, including information about the HSD, can be found in the NHSP operational guidance, chapter 2, which also reflects the recent changes. The PHE Screening helpdesk holds details of available dates and waiting times.
The PHE Screening blog provides up to date news from all NHS screening programmes. You can register to receive updates direct to your inbox, so there’s no need to keep checking for new blogs. If you have any questions about this blog article, or about population screening in England, please contact the PHE screening helpdesk.
]]>