Table.

Adherence of midwifery units' written policies to Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' guidelines on screening^*

Royal College guidelines criterion	No (%) of policies fulfilling criterion	Comments
Clear statement of which test is available	61 (94)	Missing in one policy on Down's syndrome and three on haemoglobinopathy
Clear statement of which patients are routinely to be offered test	45 (69)	11 offer testing for Down's syndrome to all, 9 to women aged 30-38; three offer haemoglobinopathy testing to unspecified ethnic groups, one universally; both policies covering cystic fibrosis state family history as basis for screening
Personnel responsible for offering screening or counselling are specified	13 (20)	Unrelated to condition to which policy referred
Clear statement of cut-off values for normality	22 (34)	In 4/14 of policies for both Down's syndrome and NTD, 5/20 for Down's syndrome, 5/11 for NTD, and 8/18 for haemoglobinopathy
Clear guidelines on referral for abnormal screen	26 (40)	9/18 of policies covering haemoglobinopathy, 1/2 covering cystic fibrosis

^*Of 65 written policies, 20 covered Down's syndrome, 11 neural tube defect (NTD), 14 both Down's syndrome and NTD, 2 cystic fibrosis, and 18 haemoglobinopathy.