Scottish Newborn Screening Lab

The Scottish Newborn Screening Laboratory provides a national screening service to Scotland. The laboratory is situated on level 2B of the Laboratory Medicine Building at the Queen Elizabeth university Hospital in Glasgow. The screening services provided are funded by National Services Division of NHS Scotland and accredited by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) Reference No. 9352.

The scope of tests included in this accreditation can be viewed here

Dried blood spots (Guthrie cards) are received from newborn babies from all over Scotland (approximately 60,000 per year) and tested for nine disorders:

1. Congenital Hypothyroidism (CHT)

2. Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

3. Sickle Cell Disorders (SCD)

4. Phenylketonuria (PKU)

5. Medium Chain Acyl – CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency (MCADD)

6. Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD)

7. Isovaleric Acidemia (IVA)

8. Glutaric Aciduria Type 1 (GA1)

9. Homocystinuria (HCU)

The aim is to detect these conditions as early as possible to allow affected infants to be placed on the appropriate treatment.

The Newborn Screening Service strives to continually improve the quality of its service and welcomes feedback from its users. For feedback please contact the laboratory Quality Manager here.