373 abortion ops botched by Marie Stopes in 8 weeks
NEARLY 400 botched abortions were carried out in two months at Marie Stopes clinics, a report by health watchdogs reveals.
It also found that in another threemonth period, 11 women needed emergency transfers to hospital after difficulties at facilities run by the abortion provider.
The Care Quality Commission report shows there are still serious problems at Marie Stopes International a year after the watchdog forced it to suspend abortions for girls and vulnerable women.
It is a follow-up to an inspection report published in December that found major safety flaws at the organisation’s clinics, with more than 2,600 serious incidents reported in 2015.
The latest inspection, headed by chief inspector of hospitals Professor Sir Mike Richards, found there were ‘issues with infection prevention and control’ at some of the group’s clinics and that there was no evidence of checks to improve safety.
A string of management problems and failures to comply with regulations were also found.
The report made nine demands for immediate improvement and warned the CQC ‘will be undertaking further enforcement action, monitoring Marie Stopes International closely and reviewing its progress’.
The findings – partly based on a surprise inspection of Marie Stopes’ London headquarters in February – follows a difficult year for the organisation, which carries out 70,000 abortions a year, 60,000 of them paid for by the NHS.
In August last year, before December’s critical inspec- tion report, Marie Stopes had to suspend abortions for girls under 18 and vulnerable women, halt abortions under anaesthetic or sedation, and temporarily stop all terminations at its clinic in Norwich.
Problems disclosed in the new follow- up report include 373 abortions in January and February said to have failed and which required the patients to have further treatment.
Of the 11 women taken to hospital as emergency cases between October and December, one needed surgery and two required blood transfusions. Other incidents noted by inspectors included the discovery that an unregistered nurse was working at a clinic and no reliable checks had been carried out to confirm nurses were competent.
Professor Richards found that after Marie Stopes made improvements last autumn and restarted its suspended abortion practices, ‘there had then been a period of less momentum’.
The pace of change had improved after a new managing director was appointed in January, but ‘unfortunately this individual then resigned from position at the end of March’.
The report added: ‘ We were concerned that further instability of the senior team would impact significantly on the organisation and tentative progress that had been made would fail to be embedded.’ Dr Peter Saunders, chief executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said: ‘It is disgraceful that this business, which performs a third of Britain’s abortions… has continued to fail to meet basic standards of care.’
Lord Alton of Liverpool, a cross-bench peer and a prolife campaigner, said: ‘As this is the second time MSI have been brought to book for failing, the Government should cease giving them taxpayers’ money.’
Marie Stopes UK’s acting managing director Sally Bassett said: ‘We have been working hard to address the concerns raised by the CQC and we are very pleased that they have recognised the significant progress we have made.’
‘Failed to meet basic standards’