Those of you who work in the NHS and are involved with NHS Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening (IDPS) will hopefully have seen our recent blog article giving an update about the hepatitis B quality improvement project. As we explained, the aim of the project is to significantly improve the care and services for pregnant women living with hepatitis B and their babies.
We're still a couple of months away from the final launch (planned for April 2021), but we've got some great new resources to tell you about before that.
New one-stop-shop
We're delighted to launch our one-stop-shop for hepatitis B which has brought together links to new pathway guidance, leaflets, template letters and a checklist.
This updated collection page will help health professionals to deliver the:
- NHS IDPS care pathway for hepatitis B
- PHE immunisation pathway for infants at risk of perinatal transmission of hepatitis B
The new hepatitis B resources are for use from 1 April 2021, but we've published them now so you can familiarise yourself and review your local pathways ready to start using them.
Read on for more information about our new resources, all of which are linked to from our new one-stop-shop.
New guidance
We've published updated and improved guidance on the hepatitis B antenatal screening and selective neonatal immunisation pathway (which includes the all-important clinical pathways). This comprehensive resource gives health professionals a step-by-step guide to the care pathways, from screening to completion of the vaccination schedule at 12 months. It includes information on:
- the clinical picture and transmission of hepatitis B
- the global elimination strategy
- surveillance of the virus
- screening and care in pregnancy for women living with hepatitis B and their babies
- women who decline testing
- the immunisation schedule
- missed vaccinations
Test result and protecting your baby leaflets
These new leaflets help midwives explain the screening result and the care pathway to parents. They should be given to parents as a guide to help them understand about hepatitis B, their care in pregnancy and the baby's immunisation schedule.
Maternal and neonatal checklist
The new hepatitis B maternal and neonatal checklist will support midwives in delivering the hepatitis B care pathway. Trusts can download it and add their own logos and details.
Notification letter templates
The 2 new hepatitis B notification letter templates are for maternity trusts to use to inform GPs, health visitors and child health information system (CHIS) records. Like the checklist, these templates can be adapted by trusts who wish to add their own logos and details.
Training
During December 2020, PHE Screening ran 18 successful online sessions about the hepatitis B pathway, attended by screening teams, commissioners, clinicians and CHIS teams.
We talked about improved surveillance of hepatitis B virus within the pathway, including:
- a blood sample on all women screening positive for hepatitis B at the beginning of pregnancy
- a blood sample in cases of higher infectivity from the mother and baby at delivery
We also explained about the resources we've just launched and their use in the clinical scenario – both as a useful reminder for the midwife, and as a resource for the woman to look at afterwards.
We had some great feedback on the sessions. One participant told us:
This project is very exciting and I’m really looking forward to using the new information leaflets to give to our women.
Another said:
Brilliant sessions and I love all the new resources.
PHE Screening blog
The PHE Screening blog provides up to date news from all NHS screening programmes. You can register to receive updates direct to your inbox, so there’s no need to keep checking for new blogs. If you have any questions about this blog article, or about population screening in England, please contact the PHE screening helpdesk.