Calls to overhaul ‘fragile’ UK abortion services as women face ‘untenable’ waits and huge distances
Women seeking abortions are having to travel hundreds of miles to access care as “untenable” waiting times put unsustainable pressure on services.
Those seeking surgical and late-stage abortions in the UK are being forced to cross the country for care because of availability gaps in their area, while “messy” NHS systems are forcing private providers to turn women away, The Independent has been told.
The already “fragile” situation was made worse during the pandemic, leading medics, experts and charities to call for an overhaul of the system and for NHS trusts to take up services.
MP Stella Creasy, who has called for the decriminalisation of abortion in the UK, told The Independent she was “terrified” for women making journeys to have an abortion.
The politician, who is an outspoken campaigner for abortion rights, said the problem lies in the fact abortion is still criminalised in the UK. It is only allowed if approved by two doctors, who must agree having the baby would pose a greater risk to the physical or mental health of the woman than a termination.
“At the moment, abortion starts from a criminal perspective and so provision is made that much more complicated,” she said. “This is a healthcare and a human rights matter.”
One woman told The Independent she was forced to travel over 100 miles from Penrith and Liverpool for her abortion and had to stay in hospital far away from home when the procedure went wrong.
Medics said the hole in surgical services was driven by a “vicious cycle” of a lack of training for doctors to perform the procedures and warned future services could be at risk if there is no one to take them over.
Leading providers have also said NHS contracting rules mean women who need a medical abortion face restrictions on who they can choose to have an abortion with.
Data gathered by leading abortion provider MSI Reproductive Choices UK, seen by The Independent, revealed women in 15 areas across England can only use the abortion provider which has the contract in their local area.
Jonathan Lord, medical director of MSI Reproductive Choices UK, said this meant access to services was a “postcode lottery” and ongoing difficulties to access terminations had been further compounded by the pandemic.
Mr Lord, who is also co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Providers, said: “There has been pressure on waiting times because of the pandemic,” he said.
“People don’t want to wait, so they have to travel long distances. People are so desperate to get treatment they will travel long distances rather than waiting. Covid was the final straw.”
He said the commissioning of abortion services “is very much a mess”, adding there was a culture of “cost-cutting” rather than a focus on quality and sustainability of care.
Katherine O’Brien, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said that women should have the right to go to another provider if there were long waiting times, but noted they were routinely blocked from doing so.
Ms O’Brien said it was “devastating” being forced to turn women away when they knew they could treat them.
She revealed one provider had to turn down NHS contracts for abortion services because the costs were too low to provide quality services.
About 75 per cent of NHS abortion services are carried out by independent providers.
Professor Kaye Wellings said that while access to medical abortions has vastly improved since a rule change that now allows women to take two pills at home, the picture is very different for surgical and late-stage abortions, with only five NHS trust-run services offering them.
