Child-Parent Screening Service (CPSS)

Information for parents

What is the CPSS?

The Child-Parent Screening Service (CPSS) aims to identify children and their families with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). This is to support the NHS's long-term ambition to reduce cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), as FH can cause these diseases.

Testing sites have been set up in partnership with the Health Innovation Networks. These pilot sites aim to screen 10,000 children by October 2024 with a view to a national rollout across the whole Health Innovation Network over the following 12 months. 

Who can take part?

If you have a child around the age of 1-2 years who is due their routine immunisations, and your General Practice is involved as a pilot site, you will be invited to have your child screened for familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH).

What does screening involve? 

If you consent, the procedure will take place as follows:

• When you arrive at the surgery, you will be informed of the CPSS and the lead nurse will ask for your verbal consent.
• Your child will have a heel prick test, then the blood sample will be analysed. If the child’s cholesterol is raised, the remaining sample will be sent to a genomics laboratory for further genetic testing. 
• The genetic testing aims to identify the faulty gene linked with FH. If the test is positive, your child will be offered dietary advice as early as possible, then treatment according to local pathways. The local FH Cascade team will be alerted, because every child with FH will have one parent with the faulty gene, and the parents will also be offered a test. Adults with a positive test for FH will receive statins immediately. Learn about cascade testing to find FH in families.

• If the initial heel prick test is positive (showing very high cholesterol) but the genetic test is negative, the child will need to be re-tested within 3 months.