Abortions in a week of seeing a GP

WOMEN should be able to terminate pregnancies within a week of seeing a doctor, new official guidelines state.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also says patients in England should be able to self-refer to abortion clinics rather than see a GP first, if they prefer.

They could even be booked in for a termination without seeing a doctor in person if they choose a phone or video consultation instead.

The draft guidelines have been drawn up by the health watchdog and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to speed up and improve access to abortion services.

But critics have accused health bosses of ‘rushing’ women into terminations and limiting medical support.

Dr Callum Miller, of the University of Oxford, said: ‘The absence of medical supervision for taking powerful drugs, often with great distress, is not an improvement in medical care.’

The NICE guideline applies to England and Wales but is likely to be adopted by north of the Border because there is no Scottish guidance on the matter.

A spokesman for Healthcare Improvement Scotland said: ‘NICE guidelines may be of interest to clinicians in Scotland in informing the best care for patients.’