Electronic FOQ: specification
Updated 9 April 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-origin-questionnaire-sickle-cell-and-thalassaemia-screening/electronic-foqs-specification
The FOQ is mandatory for all antenatal booking blood requests submitted in both high prevalence (HP) and low prevalence (LP) trusts.
All family origin categories and sub-categories are mandatory fields for electronic FOQs (e-FOQs). These categories:
- help midwives to provide accurate information on family origins
- provide laboratory teams with information they need to follow the antenatal screening algorithm and report results accurately
- help identify groups at high risk of alpha zero thalassaemia
Contact the national SCT programme team by emailing PHE.screeninghelpdesk@nhs.net for advice if you are unable to integrate any of the essential elements into your e-FOQ.
Essential elements
The yellow boxes and # (hashtag) in the nationally developed PDF version of the FOQ indicate an instruction to test and a risk of alpha zero thalassaemia respectively. These elements must be translated into a format that can be represented digitally.
It must be clear which family origins are the mother’s and which are the father’s when transmitted digitally.
The FOQ categories A-I in the national FOQ PDF must be maintained for both parents. This is important even in high prevalence trusts where the baby’s father is screened if the mother is a carrier (regardless of family origins).
The e-FOQ must have a hierarchical tree like structure of main categories with pull-down boxes for sub-category family origin.
It must be possible to use this structure to choose as many family origin categories as necessary for both the mother and the biological father. This is an essential element of using the FOQ.
There should be no limit to the number of categories that can be selected. Mothers and biological fathers must be able to identify all aspects of their family origins, particularly where these are very complex.
It must be possible to identify:
- pregnancies resulting from egg donation
- pregnancies resulting from sperm donation
- pregnancies resulting from both egg and sperm donation
- parents who have unknown ancestry (for example adopted)
- women who decline screening
- gestation at time of sample (weeks and days)
Low prevalence trusts
Women who have not declined screening but do not wish to disclose their family origins and/or the family origins of the baby’s biological father, should be tested.
There must be an option for women and biological fathers from low risk family origins to opt in for screening if they request it.