§ 12. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he gives to general practitioners who find that consultant gynaecologists in their local hospitals are refusing to accept their patients whom they recommend for termination of pregnancy.
§ Sir K. JosephIn general I would expect general practitioners confronted with such problems to take them up with the local hospital authority or with the appropriate regional hospital board. If an individual patient is referred back to her own doctor it will then be for him to consider the situation and make any further arrangements.
§ Mrs. ShortIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in the West Midlands many general practitioners know that there is no point in referring their women patients to consulant gynaecologists because they refuse to carry out these operations? Is he also aware that some gynaecologists in different parts of the country are blackmailing women into agreeing to sterilisation before they will agree to carry out the termination operation? Does not he think that this is a disgraceful state of affairs, which causes great and needless distress to very many women patients? Will he urgently look at this matter, because it is a very serious situation?
§ Sir K. JosephWithout accepting any specific allegation which the hon. Lady made, I would reply that these are precisely the sort of questions which the Lane Committee exists to try to settle.