Paper FOQ form: 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/essential-elements-of-family-origin-questionnaire
The family origin questionnaire (FOQ) is mandatory for all antenatal booking blood requests and an essential part of the antenatal NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia (SCT) Screening Programme.
The FOQ form is used as a screening tool in low prevalence (LP) trusts and helps with the interpretation of results in high prevalence (HP) trusts.
FOQ categories and sub-categories must be maintained in locally developed FOQ paper forms. They help:
- midwives at booking to complete accurate family origin details
- identify high-risk alpha thalassaemia groups
- with annual data collection
For ease of use, the FOQ information may be integrated with other antenatal screening tests.
Essential elements
All of the information on the national FOQ PDF form must be maintained in any local paper FOQ form. Additional information can be added if required.
It is the responsibility of the NHS trust to make sure that any locally developed FOQ form is kept up to date and checked against the national FOQ template annually.
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 maintained unless an effective equivalent is agreed locally.
It must be possible to record both maternal and paternal family origins on the form.
The mother and the baby’s biological father should be able to choose as many family origin categories as necessary. There should be no limit to the number of family origins that can be selected.
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 had a bone marrow transplant
- 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 offered a laboratory test.
There must be an option for women and biological fathers, who are from low risk family origins, categories (F) and (G), to opt in for screening if they request this.