Guidance

Newborn blood spot screening: education and training

Training and continuing professional development (CPD) for people working in the newborn blood spot (NBS) screening programme in England.

This guide sets out education and training resources available to healthcare professionals working in the newborn blood spot screening programme.

E-learning

Most e-learning developed by the NHS screening programmes is available on the e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) website.

E-learning for GPs

Complete the British Medical Journal’s antenatal and newborn screening module to learn about:

  • the principles of screening and how they are applied in practice
  • what screening programmes are available
  • how to advise patients about the timing of screening tests

Failsafe videos

The newborn blood spot failsafe solution (NBSFS) helps ensure that all babies born in England are offered screening.

Watch this series of video user guides to learn how to use the NBSFS.

Avoidable repeat rate

Good quality blood spot samples are vital to ensure babies with rare but serious conditions are identified and treated early. If samples are not taken properly they will need to be taken again, this is known as an avoidable repeat.

Watch a video of a community midwife discussing how she improved her practice to lower her avoidable repeat rate.

Education and training: all programmes

Read and download education and training resources for all screening programmes. This includes:

  • midwife resource cards
  • the screening timeline
  • events

Health Knowledge: screening overview

The interactive learning on screening available from Health Knowledge is helpful for new and non clinical staff or those returning after a long period absent.

Updates to this page

Published 8 December 2017

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