This is the summary of the NICE guideline “Abortion Care” published in September 2019.
There are some changes in this guideline. This guideline provides information about management of women undergoing abortion at different gestations, outline of the service organization and how the abortion services should be provided (which are relevant for the health professionals working in UK). In this summary, only main points are extracted.
It is advised to read the original guideline to grasp the topic and to make sure, no important point is missed.
The guideline can be downloaded by clicking here: NG140 Abortion Care
Some other relevant links of this topic are also provided at the end of this post.
Thanks
NICE 140: ABORTION CARE
Service Organization
Making it easier to access services
- Commissioner & providers should work together to:
- Make information about abortion services widely available
- Ensure → prompt referral onwards if service cant provide abortion
- Avoid → need for women to repeat key steps (like GP return/referral, repeated assessments/investigations)
- Allow women to self-refer to abortion services
- Ensure → abortion services have capacity/ resources to deliver range of services with minimum delay
- Health Professionals → should NOT allow their personal believes to delay services access
- Commissioners → should consider upfront funding for travel/ accommodation for women who:
- are eligible for NHS Healthcare Travel costs Scheme and/or
- need to travel to service not available locally
Waiting Times
- Ensure minimal delay & ideally provide
- Assessment within → 1 wk of request