- Demand for abortions strains NHS
- Wait times exceed three weeks
- Funding shortfall threatens services
A senior NHS official warns that some women are being forced to wait over three weeks for a termination due to the surge in demand, which is three times the recommended time frame.
The demand for abortions in England and Wales has reached “unprecedented” levels, placing “great pressure” on NHS services, according to NHS England’s chief delivery officer, Steve Russell.
In a cautionary letter to senior health executives, he stated that demand increased by 17% in the first half of 2022, according to the most recent data available.
In addition, he stated that providers were alerting women in need of surgical abortions to wait times that significantly exceeded accepted norms.
Patients who request an abortion must be evaluated, and any subsequent procedures must be completed within one week of the evaluation, according to the guidelines.
However, according to Mr Russel, some providers have been unable to comply with this regulation due to the overwhelming demand; some women have been waiting for at least three weeks.
His letter states, “As a result of significant service pressures, providers inform us that wait times for surgical abortions (approximately 13 percent of procedures) do not meet these standards – frequently for three weeks or longer.
When the mother is between 10 and 24 weeks pregnant, surgical abortions are performed, as opposed to the ‘abortion pill’ or medical abortion, which is available to women who are less than ten weeks pregnant.
Surgical abortions are performed for a variety of reasons, including the belief that carrying a child would be detrimental to their health or that they lack the financial means to support it, as well as medical conditions that would endanger the mother’s life if the pregnancy continued.
NICE guidelines stipulate that patients desiring an abortion ought to receive an assessment within a week of their request, with the evaluation itself being concluded within the same timeframe.
In addition, Mr Russel emphasised “significant continuity risks” associated with maintaining abortion services, citing evidence that inadequate funding was being provided to certain contractors, particularly those performing surgical procedures.
“National and regional risks exist due to the abortion industry’s inherent fragility if the current state of services is not remedied,” the letter continues.
He further articulated his apprehension regarding “vulnerable patients” who might be impacted by the delays and require these services.
“A small but significant number of service users will have been victims of crime, such as rape, domestic violence, coercion, modern slavery, or sexual exploitation,” he stated. Furthermore, individuals residing in the most impoverished regions are twice as likely to utilise these services.
In 2021, the Office of National Statistics reported that more than a quarter of conceptions resulted in abortions. This rate set a new record for England and Wales, with over two hundred thousand abortions performed.
Charitable organisations have attributed the ‘unprecedented’ surge in demand for abortions to the cost-of-living disaster.
Figures indicate that between January and June 2022, 123,219 abortions were performed, compared to 105,488 during the same period in 2021.
According to government data, nearly 215,000 abortions were performed in England and Wales in 2021, an increase of 2% from the previous year.
The majority were performed remotely using the tablets provided by the postal service, which was established in the early stages of the pandemic to enable women to obtain medical abortions, according to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities report.
Previously, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) cautioned that the surge could be partially attributed to the cost-of-living crisis and “financial pressures” on households and did not anticipate a slowdown.
“The financial pressures on households will have forced women and their partners to make sometimes difficult decisions regarding whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy,” said Clare Murphy, chief executive officer of BPAS.
She stated that unintended pregnancies are “not always undesirable” and that many women utilising BPAS services state that “their current circumstances make it impossible for them to start or grow a family at this time.”
Ms Murphy has advocated for improved accessibility to emergency contraception, proposing that it be readily available in pharmacies and supermarkets rather than being offered over the counter and requiring women to undergo consultations that are deemed “clinically unnecessary.”
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“However, no contraceptive method will ever eliminate the need for prompt, accessible abortion care,” she continued. “BPAS is dedicated to providing considerate, compassionate care to every woman who ever requires our services.”
On the NHS, women in Britain who have progressed past nine weeks and six days of pregnancy are eligible to undergo a surgical abortion.
Although the general limit for these abortions in the United Kingdom is 24 weeks of pregnancy, they are scarce and may be performed later.
Examples of such circumstances are when the continuation of the pregnancy poses a life-threatening risk to the mother or when a test reveals that the child has a profound disability.
Surgical abortions comprise a negligible proportion of the overall number of terminations performed in the United Kingdom in 2021, amounting to a mere 13 per cent.
Abortions performed on women aged 35 and older have become increasingly prevalent over the last decade. The number of terminations increased from 27,199 in 2011 to 40,789 in 2021.
