NHS error meant hundreds of parents did not know children’s sickle cell status

Electron microscope image showing a blood cell altered by sickle cell disease. The NHS has apologised ‘wholeheartedly’ to affected families and has begun an investigation into the lapse. Photograph: AP

An error by the NHS led to hundreds of families with African-Caribbean heritage being left unaware of whether their babies may be carriers of certain genetic blood disorders, the Guardian has learned.

More than 800 families in Derbyshire were not sent the results of a heel prick test given to babies after birth, meaning they did not know whether their child was a carrier of a trait for sickle cell disease or for an unusual haemoglobin gene.