Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department holds on the average length of time between obtaining the first medical practitioner’s signature and the second medical practitioner’s signature for an abortion HSA1 form.

Nicola Blackwood

Comprehensive and comparable data is not collected centrally on waiting times for abortions performed in both the National Health Service and independent sector. Information on the average time between the two medical practitioners’ signatures is also not collected centrally.

Because of the way information is stored the number of places where abortions took place in England and Wales is only available from 2013 to 2015 and is shown in the table below. All independent sector places perform abortions under contract from the NHS (previously known as NHS agency).

Table: The number of clinics at which abortions took place, by clinic type, England and Wales 2013 to 2015

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