One million babies tagged by NHS
Kablenet.com
Published: 15 Jun 2004 10:20 BST
The NHS has issued more than one million newborn babies with a unique identity number, the authority responsible for the programme has announced.
The numbers for babies programme (NN4B) hit the one million mark earlier in June 2004, 18 months after it was first launched.
Issuing babies with the number allows NHS staff to carry out screening for health problems straight after birth. The NHS Newborn Hearing Programme is one scheme already benefiting from the service, and a similar process is soon to be adopted for Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia screening.
Babies receive a unique barcode identifier on screening test cards ensuring that they are tested following birth. Before the introduction of the NHS Information Authority scheme numbers were introduced by the Registrars of Births and Deaths up to six weeks after birth.
Lola Oni, nurse director and lecturer at Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Centre, said: "The NHS Information Authority's initiative to issue NHS numbers to babies at birth allows routine information about all newborn babies to be available to laboratories very fast. This means that women and their families will receive results about their baby's well being more quickly."
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