NHS ten-year plan includes ambition to offer genome sequencing for all newborns

The UK Government hopes to offer whole genome sequencing for all newborns in England within the next ten years, building upon the work of the Generation Study.

The Generation Study is part of the Newborn Genomes Programme, an NHS-embedded programme run by Genomics England which is currently sequencing the genomes of 100,000 newborns in order to identify actionable rare genetic conditions (see BioNews 1172, 1210, 1259 and 1261).

In its new document Fit for the Future: Ten-Year Health Plan for England, the Government states that it will 'support the Generation Study as it sequences the genomes of 100,000 newborn babies', and that the study 'will inform our longer-term ambition to make genomic sequencing at birth universal.'

The Ten-Year Health Plan also proposes building upon the Our Future Health research programme, which seeks to build a new model of care by analysing genomic data alongside NHS health records (see BioNews 1165 and 1296). This includes exploring potential uses of polygenic and integrated risk scores, to facilitate earlier diagnosis of treatable conditions.

In the Plan, the Government states that it 'will begin integrating genomic insights into cardiovascular disease prevention and care through a trial with Our Future Health implementing integrated risk scores (which bring together genomics and other non-biological risk factors) in neighbourhood health services, expanding to all five million participants in the Our Future Health programme'.

PET (the Progress Educational Trust) collaborates with both Genomics England and Our Future Health, producing public events that explore scientific, medical and ethical aspects of whole genome sequencing and health-related data. In recent years, six of the events held by PET in partnership with Genomics England have focused on the implications of sequencing the whole genomes of newborns, and related considerations surrounding the Generation Study (see BioNews 1122, 1127, 1129, 1133, 1137 and 1262).

Meanwhile, recent events produced by PET in partnership with Our Future Health have explored that programme's current and prospective use of participant data (see BioNews 1293 and 1295), and have sought to explain how and why the approach of the programme differs from the approach taken by Genomics England and by UK Biobank (see BioNews 1288).

Dr Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: 'Parts of the NHS Ten-Year Plan, such as boosting the NHS's offer on genomic medicine, and accelerating clinical trials, are exactly right and very welcome. This will transform patients' lives and take better advantage of the precision medicines and benefits of research that our sector can offer'.

The Plan is informed by a public consultation that was held by the Government last year. The UK fertility regulator – the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) – said in its official response to that consultation that it wanted to see 'a cross-disciplinary approach to fertility across the health service, from primary care to treatment in specialist fertility services, to maternity care and beyond'.

However, the Plan contains no references to fertility, IVF or reproduction, despite the HFEA's consultation response and despite the fact that access to NHS-funded fertility treatment in England is limited, inconsistent and difficult to understand. In order to address these problems, PET has launched a Fertility Policy Tracker – a simple-to-use, free-to-access means of accessing information about the policies of Integrated Care Boards (see BioNews 1247).

Also missing from the Plan is a chapter that was due to be entitled 'Change begins', explaining how the ambitions in the Plan are to be delivered. Chief executive of NHS England, Sir Jim Mackey, told the Health Service Journal (HSJ) that the published version of the Plan is intended to create 'energy and enthusiasm' rather than setting our detailed guidance. Mackey indicated to HSJ that more detailed frameworks and guidance would be developed over the summer, and published by the winter.

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The meaning, merit and uses of polygenic scores will be discussed at this year's PET Annual Conference, What Does Genomics Mean for Fertility Treatment?.

The conference is taking place in person in London on Wednesday 10 December 2025, with sessions including 'Polygenic Risk, Polygenic Scores, Polygenic Indices: What Are They? What Should Be Done With Them?'. Find out more and register her