Newborn Bloodspot Cards

Concepts

• glasgow
• medical consumables
• blood spot cards
• the dried blood spot card
• the screening card
• a card portion
• the bloodspot cards
• card
• cards
• newborn

Location

Glasgow

Description

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde require Scottish new born screening blood spot cards with envelopes.

Total Quantity or Scope

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) hosts the nationally commissioned Scottish New born Screening Laboratory (herein ‘SNSL’) which provides the new born blood spot screening for all babies born in Scotland. The SNSL provides all fourteen regional health boards in Scotland with the dried blood spot card, this is a CE, IVD marked sample collection device (herein ‘the bloodspot card’). The local midwifery services use the bloodspot cards to take a heel prick sample from all new born babies, these samples are then returned to the SNSL where sample processing takes place. The bloodspot programmes bespoke screening cards are specifically designed by the National Services Division for the purpose of screening new born babies in Scotland for a number of diseases. The design of the cards includes a card portion which can be completed by the midwife to include all required demographical information for the baby, and a filter paper portion where the blood is applied. The filter paper must adhere to the standards detailed by the CLSI. The specifications for the screening card are extremely complex and well-regulated to ensure the screening programme can be sensitive, specific and safe for patients. Alternative blood collection devices, including different types of filter paper cannot be used as they will not meet the specifications for the Scottish screening programme. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde require supply of an annual order of the Scottish new born screening blood spot cards and glassine envelopes. The bloodspot cards are a specific type that is mandated by legislation from the UK National Screening Committee. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will purchase 80,000 cards with envelopes printed using Ahlstrom 226 filter paper in one batch.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 33140000 - Medical consumables

Indicators

Legal Justification

Newborn bloodspot screening in the UK is a public health initiative which requires equity across all devolved nations. As such screening in Scotland is overseen by the National Screening Committee, which is part of UK government. Alignment of the screening programme is essential to allow consistent and transferable screening of all newborn babies in the UK. With this in mind, although many of the processes used for UK newborn screening are not mandated, they are governed by the UK Newborn Screening Laboratory Network, to ensure that accurate screening is taking place. One of the essential elements to this is to ensure that all screening algorithms, including the analytical cut of values are the same across all four nations. To allow this to happen it is essential that the techniques used for screening are the same. This includes ensuring that all nations employ the same sample requirements. This means that the devise with which we use to take newborn blood spot samples must be the same across all nations and must be the same as the one used to validate the screening processes. In the UK, all nations must use the same type of filter paper in the sample collection devise. Since the collection of newborn blood spot samples began in the 1960s, this has been the specific brand of filter paper Ahlstrom 226. The only licence to use the Ahlstrom 226 filter paper is held by Revvity, therefore the purchase of newborn bloodspot cards in the UK can only come from Revvity. Revvity purchase the filter paper as a roll from Ahlstrom and use it to create the bespoke bloodspot card design that we use in Scotland. The filter paper comes with a Certificate of Analysis and a report from the Centre for Disease Control, and both of these ensure the paper is consistent with the newborn screening requirements CLSI NBS-01 Ed7. There are no other commercial companies that can purchase and use Ahlstrom 226 filter paper to make newborn screening samples. It is important to note that whist other brands of filter paper are available for purchase, this would mean that all screening algorithms in use would have to be re-validated and would mean that Scotland deviates from the UK wide national protocols. This would be extremely costly, time consuming and is not recommended by the Scottish Screening Committee. For this reason, the only supplier of bloodspot screening cards in Scotland is Revvity.

Other Information

NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=806214. (SC Ref:806214)