Hospitals fail to sign up for trial that could help save babies’ lives

A CLINICAL trial to test pregnant women for group B Strep (GBS) – the most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies – will fail unless the Government intervenes, experts have warned.

Some 80 hospitals are needed for the trial to go ahead but only 32 have committed to it, with a deadline for registering of September.

The trial is being funded by the National Institute for Health Research and will look at whether testing women for group B Strep reduces the risk of babies dying or suffering harm.

Dr Jane Plumb, chief executive of Group B Strep Support, who lost her son Theo to the infection, is calling on the Government and NHS England to intervene to make sure the trial goes ahead. She said: “The reality is that unless a further 48 hospitals sign up for this trial, then it will fail.

“The Government is waiting for the results from this trial to determine whether to test pregnant women for group B Strep. Yet there seems to be little acknowledgement that this trial is heading towards failure.

“We need more hospitals on board, and we need to make sure that the investment in this trial is not wasted.

“This is about saving the lives of babies, and it really is now or never.”

According to the charity, several local MPS have contacted hospitals after being urged to do so by the public.

Data show two babies on average develop GBS infection in the UK every day, leading to one death a week and one left with long-term disabilities.

Many other countries, including the United States, already screen for the infection.

The new trial – called GBS3 – is being led by researchers at the University of Nottingham. It will look at whether testing reduces the risk of infection in newborn babies compared with the current strategy in place in the UK.

The approach at present is to offer antibiotics during labour to women who are considered at increased risk of their baby developing a group B Strep infection.

Dr Carol Baker, whose work led to universal GBS testing being introduced in the US, said: “This trial and the results are vital in stemming the rising tide of GBS infection in UK babies.”

Iwan Thomas, the former Olympian, whose first child Teddy was ill with group B Strep, said: “It’s outrageous that in 2022 babies are getting sick and dying from a preventable infection.”

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have been approached for comment.

‘We need more hospitals on board, and we need to make sure that the investment in this trial is not wasted’