Pre-eclampsia tests to receive funding 17 months after recommendation

The Scottish Government is to provide funding for health boards to improve testing for a life-threatening condition which can impact pregnant women and their unborn babies.

Health Secretary Neil Gray announced that £259,000 will be allocated to health boards across Scotland to introduce placental growth factor blood tests – which can be used to diagnose pre-eclampsia.

The money comes almost 18 months after ministers were urged to introduce the tests in Scotland.

The Scottish Health Technologies Group had recommended the tests be brought in back in March 2023.

NHS England announced it was rolling out the tests back in August 2021.

The Scottish Health Technologies Group recommended that the test is provided universally to any pregnant women who need it.

To help achieve this aim, funding of £259,000 will be allocated across all of Scotland’s 14 territorial health boards.

Mr Gray said the test was “an effective way of diagnosing pre-eclampsia” adding that “the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring it is available right across Scotland”.

He stated: “To underline this commitment, we are providing funding, to be shared across all of our health boards, to ensure this service can be delivered in 2024-25.”

Although the exact cause of pre-eclampsia is not known, the condition is thought to occur when there is a problem with the placenta, the organ that links an unborn baby’s blood supply to its mother’s.

Mothers-to-be who are diagnosed with the condition require specialist monitoring, with delivering their baby.

An estimated 5,260 pregnant women in Scotland develop the condition each year, according to the charity, Action on Pre-eclampsia.