The NHS Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening (IDPS) Programme held its first ever national workshop for screening laboratory staff in Birmingham.
Feedback from delegates was extremely positive and we are now planning to hold the event annually.
The workshop enabled us to provide delegates with the latest national updates and involve them in revising the IDPS laboratory handbook. Topics (see presentation slides below) included:
- accreditation of IDPS screening laboratories by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS)
- antenatal screening algorithms and reporting (syphilis, HIV and hepatitis B)
- update on screening standards
- shared learning from screening safety incidents and quality assurance (QA) activities
In the morning there were group discussions with delegates feeding back on the proposed antenatal screening algorithms for HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis. It was great to see people engage with this activity and the feedback will help inform the final version of the algorithms.
One of the main messages from the day was that communication and relationships between midwives and laboratory staff are extremely important for making sure screening works effectively and that mums and babies receive their screening results in a timely manner.
What delegates told us
Feedback from delegates included:
Great first meeting and great to have a forum to discuss the ever-increasing number of issues/changes. Really interesting and stimulating day.
I enjoyed the fact that the meeting was interactive, and that our opinions were taken into account. It made me feel that this was a 2-way process, and the improvements to standards is something that we would be able to contribute to.
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