Demand for abortions on the NHS is forcing some women to wait three weeks for a termination – triple the recommended time frame, a senior NHS chief has warned.
According to figures, the demand for abortions in England and Wales has hit ‘unprecedented’ levels as NHS services remain under ‘great pressure’.
Steve Russell, the chief delivery officer for NHS England has now issued a warning letter to senior health bosses, to say that demand was up 17 per cent in the first half of 2022, and women needing surgical abortions are facing waits well outside of accepted standards.
The current NHS guidelines state patients seeking an abortion should be assessed within a week of their request and any subsequent procedures should be completed within a week of that assessment.
But Mr. Russell said some providers reported they are unable to adhere to this due to demand, with some women experiencing delays of three weeks or longer.
His letter said:
“As a result of significant service pressures, providers tell us wait times for surgical abortions (circa 13% of procedures) do not meet these standards – often being 3 weeks or longer”.
Abortions
Depending on how far along the pregnancy is, abortions can be carried out using different methods. If the mother is between 10 and 24 weeks pregnant, surgical abortions are carried out, meanwhile, the ‘abortion pill’ or the medical abortion is offered to women under 10 weeks pregnant.
According to the NICE guidelines, patients seeking an abortion should get an assessment within a week of request and it should be completed also within the week.
Mr. Russel emphasised ‘significant continuity risks’ to keep abortion services open with evidence that some contractors, especially those providing surgical procedures, were not receiving adequate funding.
“The nature of the abortion sector means that there are national and regional risks if the fragility we are seeing in services is not addressed,” the letter reads.
He also highlighted concern for ‘vulnerable patients’ who might need these services and impacted by delays.
He said:
“A small but important number of service users will have experienced crime, including rape, domestic abuse, coercion, modern slavery or sexual exploitation. In addition, those living in the areas of highest deprivation are twice as likely to use these services.”
The Office of National Statistics shows more than 200,000 abortions were performed in 2021, and more than a quarter of all conceptions resulted in abortion that year.
The cost-of-living crisis has been blamed for contributing to the ‘unprecedented’ level of demand by charities.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) commented that ‘financial pressures’ on households were partly to blame for the surge and that it couldn’t see the rise slowing down.
BPAS chief executive Clare Murphy said:
“The financial pressures on households will have forced women and their partners to make sometimes tough decisions around continuing or ending a pregnancy.”
She said unplanned pregnancies are ‘not always unwanted’ and that many women using BPAS services say “the circumstances they are in mean it is simply not the right time to start or expand a family”.
Figures show there were 123,219 abortions carried out between January and June 2022, compared to 105,488 for the same period in 2021.
Meanwhile, nearly 215,000 abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2021, according to Government data, up 2 per cent on the year before.
More than half were carried out at home via the pills by post service, which was set up at the start of the pandemic so women could access medical abortions, according to the report from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
Ms. Murphy has called for better access to emergency contraception and wants it to be available on supermarket and pharmacy shelves rather than over the counter with women having to go through ‘clinically unnecessary’ consultations.
She added: “No contraceptive method however will ever negate the need for swift, accessible abortion care and BPAS is committed to provide kind, compassionate care to every woman who needs us, whenever that may be.”
British women who are beyond nine weeks and six days pregnant can go for a surgical abortion on the NHS.
Abortion law
The general limit for abortions in the UK is 24 weeks of pregnancy but they can be carried out after under very limited circumstances.
These include if the mother’s life would be put in danger by the pregnancy continuing or if a test has revealed the child has a severe disability.
Surgical abortions are a fraction of total abortions carried out in the UK, only accounting for 13 per cent of terminations in 2021.
The number of abortions carried out in over-35s has been rising over the past decade. In 2011, 27,199 had a termination, compared to 40,789 in 2021.
Further reading
Hospital negligence – Oakwood Solicitors
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Get in touch today for a no-obligation consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9720 to find out how we can help you.
Carol Cook joined Oakwood Solicitors in May 2017 to lead the Medical Negligence Department.
Carol handles a wide range of clinical, cosmetic and dental negligence claims and has years of experi…
Medical Negligence Team – Case Studies Showcase
Here is a collection of recent case studies from our Medical Negligence department, showcasing not only the variety of matters they help to resolve, but also the figure awarded to the client upon …
View
