Quality standard
This quality standard covers assessing and diagnosing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in children and young people. It also covers support during pregnancy to prevent FASD. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.
The quality standard uses the terms 'woman' or 'mother' throughout. These should be taken to include people who do not identify as women but who are pregnant.
How to use NICE quality standards and how we develop them
Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.
Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them.
Your responsibility
Service providers and healthcare professionals should satisfy themselves that they are complying with their legal and professional regulatory duties. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this quality standard into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory and does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
When supporting people to make decisions, service providers and healthcare professionals should ensure that people have the information they need to make decisions and to give consent in line with General Medical Council (GMC) guidance and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code.