NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (FASP): programme overview
Information on the programme, including commissioning, quality assurance, education and training.
Applies to England
Public information about FASP is available on the NHS website.
Healthcare professionals, including midwives, should offer screening for Down’s syndrome, Edward’s syndrome, Patau’s syndrome and 11 physical conditions to all eligible pregnant women as part of their usual antenatal care.
Information about the screening tests should be provided to each pregnant woman so she is able to make a personal informed choice about the tests.
The FASP handbook brings together national guidance, information and processes that relate to the FASP screening pathways.
The NHS is committed to reducing inequalities and variation in participation to help make sure everyone has fair and equal access to screening services.
NHS England has also published information about patient confidentiality in population screening programmes.
Target population
Screening for Down’s syndrome is offered to all eligible pregnant women, and takes place between 10⁺⁰ and 20⁺⁰ weeks of pregnancy.
Screening for Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome is offered to all eligible pregnant women and takes place between 10⁺⁰ and 14⁺¹ weeks of pregnancy.
Screening for 11 physical conditions as part of the 20-week scan is offered to all pregnant women and takes place between 18⁺⁰ and 20⁺⁶ weeks of pregnancy. Scans can be completed up to 23⁺⁰ weeks of pregnancy.
Conditions screened for
Information is available for the conditions screened for in the 20-week scan:
- Edwards’ syndrome (T18)
- Patau’s syndrome (T13)
- anencephaly
- spina bifida
- cleft lip
- congenital diaphragmatic hernia
- gastroschisis
- exomphalos
- congenital heart disease
- bilateral renal agenesis
- lethal skeletal dysplasia
Care pathways are available for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome screening, as well as for the 20-week scan.
Screening test
The screening tests for you and your baby leaflet sets out the test process and purpose.
The combined test is offered in the first trimester to assess the chance of the baby having Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome or Patau’s syndrome, and is the test of choice.
The quadruple test is offered in the second trimester to assess the chance of the baby having Down’s syndrome.
The 20-week screening scan is offered to screen for Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome, and 11 physical conditions.
Private screening
The private screening: important information leaflet provides information for people who ask about private screening options.
Non-invasive prenatal screening test (NIPT)
NIPT has been added to the existing NHS screening pathway for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome as part of an evaluative rollout.
NIPT is now offered following a higher chance result (between 1 in 2 and 1 in 150) from either the combined or quadruple test in both singleton and twin pregnancies.
For more information, refer to the operational guidance on NIPT.
Find out more about NIPT on the PHE Screening blog.
Diagnostic tests
A diagnostic test is offered where a woman has received a higher chance screening test result for Down’s syndrome and/or Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome, and if there are unexpected findings at the time of the ultrasound scan. This could be:
- chorionic villus sampling
- amniocentesis
CVS and amniocentesis: information for parents explains more about these tests .
Evidence base
FASP is one of 11 NHS national population screening programmes available in England.
The UK NSC makes recommendations to ministers in the 4 UK countries on all aspects of population screening. It ensures that screening provides more benefit than harm, at a reasonable cost to the NHS.
Recommendations are based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review process.
You can read the:
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UK NSC recommendation on Down’s syndrome screening in pregnancy
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UK NSC recommendation on fetal anomaly screening in pregnancy
Data and intelligence
NHS England publishes reports setting out annual data collected from FASP.
NHS England publishes a joint antenatal screening standards data report.
Key performance indicator (KPI) data reports are available for all 11 national screening programmes.
Guidelines on handling patient information explain how to use and safeguard personal data in screening.
Requests for screening data and research
All requests for access to FASP data for research purposes need to be approved by the antenatal and newborn screening research advisory committee (RAC).
There are terms of reference for NHS population screening programme RACs.
All routine data requests (not research) should go via the PHE Screening helpdesk.
Commissioning
NHS England publishes the 20-week screening scan pathway requirements specification and the Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome screening pathway requirements specification, which provide an overview of FASP screening by describing what should happen at each stage of the end-to-end pathways. Providers and commissioners should use these to ensure high quality and consistent screening services.
Quality assurance
Guidance is available on the FASP programme’s processes for ensuring seamless and safe screening across the whole pathway.
The programme-specific operating model for quality assurance of the FASP programme should be read in conjunction with the latest SQAS operating model and the relevant programme standards.
Down’s syndrome quality assurance support service
The Down’s syndrome screening quality assurance support service (DQASS) is commissioned by PHE to support FASP.
The main aim of DQASS is to monitor and support the quality and effectiveness of Down’s syndrome, Edward’s syndrome and Patau’s syndrome screening in England.
Workforce – education and training
Education and training resources are available for healthcare professionals working in FASP.
There are also more general resources to support screening professionals in their initial training and continuing professional development (CPD).
Keep up to date
Keep up to date with what is new in the programme, including the latest guidance and good practice.
You can register to get updates on the NHS fetal anomaly screening programme direct to your inbox. Follow the instructions to get emails about the pages you are interested in.
Contact the screening team
NHS England screening
Wellington House
133-155 Waterloo Road
London
SE1 8UG
Read our leaflet on screening tests for you and your baby and find out how to request alternative formats on GOV.UK.
We cannot help with media enquiries or access screening results.
Updates to this page
Published 1 January 2013Last updated 8 July 2024 + show all updates
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Replaced PHE information with NHS England information, including contact details.
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Added link to new antenatal data standards reports collection.
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Added a link to the operational guidance to support the offer of NIPT.
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First published.