EXPECTANT mothers are missing out on a key test for genetic disorders due to recruitment problems which have left women living in Scotland's largest health board area without access to a scan routinely available in the rest of the country.

In 2004, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland – now Healthcare Improvement Scotland – issued guidelines recommending that all health boards offer pregnant women a nuchal translucency screening at 11 to 14 weeks. The scan detects fluid in the back of a developing foetus's neck, which reveals its likelihood of being born with conditions such as Down's syndrome.

The test is more accurate than standard methods which bracket a woman as high or low risk, and can eliminate the need for an amniocentesis – which carries the risk of a miscarriage.

Millions of pounds was supplied by the Scottish Government to health boards in 2008 to fund the introduction of nuchal scans, but four years on, pregnant women in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) still receive letters advising them that the board's maternity hospital "have yet to introduce the scan".

After planning to roll it out at the end of 2011, the board now hopes to offer it to all expectant mothers from September.

In the meantime, women who want the test have to pay £230 to use a private hospital.

NHS Western Isles, the only other health board where the process is not yet running, expect to have the equipment ready for use within six weeks. Scotland's other 12 health boards offer the scan routinely.

Cynthia Clarkson, Scottish Maternity Service Co-ordinator for National Childbirth Trust, the UK's largest charity for parents, said the delay was "extremely disappointing".

She said: "NCT believes that all women should be offered the same choices in maternity care, regardless of where they live. As the largest health board in Scotland, this will impact on a substantial number of women who will not be offered the most up-to-date, reliable and lower-risk screening for Down's syndrome.

"High quality maternity care must be timely and equitable."

Gillian Smith, director of the Royal College of Midwives in Scotland, said women were being left with a "two-tier service". "I'm sympathetic that there have been recruitment issues, but it's very disappointing that there appears to be an inequality of service," she said. "It would be good to have, given Glasgow's background in poor health and health inequalities, and it must be quite stressful for the women in Glasgow knowing they're not getting it."

A spokesman for Healthcare Improvement Scotland said: "In 2004, our predecessor organisation, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, recommended that a nuchal translucency scan should be offered to pregnant women to identify the risk of Down's syndrome. Clear evidence was identified that such a scan would be beneficial to mothers."

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it does make the scan available to women in the high-risk category for having a baby with Down's syndrome.

A spokeswoman for NHS GGC said: "The six trainees were due to complete their training in September 2011 and December 2011. However, only four completed with post-graduate certificates. A further six trainees have now been recruited and commenced their training.

"It is anticipated that they will complete the training programme by September 2012 when we hope to introduce this service. We recognise the importance of Nuchal Fold Translucency scans and are fully committed to delivering NT scans to all women."