§ Dame Jill Knightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action has been taken to monitor the implementation of the Infant Life (Preseveration) Act in relation to the Calthorpe nursing home in Edgbaston.
§ Mr. NewtonThe operation of the Abortion Act, which which the Infant Life (Preservation) Act interacts, is monitored in the private sector, including the Calthorpe nursing home which is only approved to perform terminations up to 20 weeks' gestation, through a system of irregular, unannounced visits by the Department's medical, nursing and investigative officers, by scrutiny of the aborition notification forms which are required to be sent to the chief medical officer within seven days of an abortion being carried out, and by the investigation of specific complaints or allegations of abuse.