Overview
- NHS Scotland added an SMA check to the day‑4 heel‑prick blood spot test on Monday, offering the screen to all new parents.
- All samples are handled at the Scottish Newborn Screening Laboratory in Glasgow, which already tests for 10 conditions and processes around 45,000 newborn samples a year.
- Scotland sees an average of three to four SMA cases in babies each year, making early identification through routine screening practical and actionable.
- The pilot runs for two years with funding from the Scottish Government (£95,000) and Novartis (£435,000) to find cases before symptoms begin.
- Results will go to the UK National Screening Committee as families and campaigners, including Jesy Nelson whose petition passed 100,000 signatures, press for the rest of the UK to adopt screening.