UK Hospitals report

UK hospitals failing to follow guidelines on group B Strep

In February 2021, we published a report which showed that failures to follow national guidelines to prevent group B Strep infections in newborn babies is leading to a postcode lottery of care and opportunities to stop deadly infections being missed.

Nearly 90% of hospitals in the UK are not using the recommended test for GBS carriage – which costs the NHS around £11- despite clear guidance issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Public Health England (PHE) that the test is more reliable and accurate.

We’ve approached the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as their governments and offered to work with them to improve this situation. We’ll continue to fight to make sure pregnant women in the UK don’t have to put up with a postcode lottery of care.

Key issues found by our report were:

• Around 20% of Trusts had not updated their local guidelines since the RCOG guidance was published in 2017.

• Over half (51%) of Trusts did not give all pregnant women information on GBS, against RCOG guidance.

• Two-thirds (66%) of Trusts are using the wrong swab test to try and detect GBS in a pregnant woman, and only 13% of Trusts are following the right laboratory methodology for processing the tests.

Read this news story and the full report here:

gbss.org.uk/FOIreport

Health Minister backs Group B Strep Support’s work

Health Minister Nadine Dorries has continued to support our work, raising awareness of group B Strep, and pushing for better prevention.

She’s called on NHS Trusts to take part in the hugely important GBS3 trial, and so far this year has written pieces for Grazia and the Daily Mail highlighting how vital it is that pregnant women and expectant parents know about group B Strep.

We welcome the Minister’s focus on group B Strep, and are continuing to work closely with her and her team to ensure it remains top of the agenda.