Abortions (Hansard, 19 June 1992)

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the abortions performed under the new grounds and conditions created by the amendments to the Abortion Act 1967 by section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1991 were performed after(a) 24 weeks and (b) 28 weeks.

§ Mr. Sackville
In the period 1 April 1991 to 30 September 1991, the latest date for which figures are available, a total of 32 abortions were performed in Great Britain after 24 weeks' gestation. Of these, seven were performed after 28 weeks' gestation.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports of inspections carried out by local health authority inspectors of private clinics providing abortions are received by her Department; and if she will publish them.

§ Mr. Sackville
Reports of health authority inspections are retained locally.

§ 1991. Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the complication rate associated with abortions 707W conducted at each of the private abortion clinics; and what was the national complication rate for each of the years (a) 1988, (b) 1989, (c) 1990 and (d)

§ Mr. Sackville
Aggregated details of complications are included on the abortion notification form sent to the chief medical officer and are published on an England and Wales basis in tables 16 and 17 of the "Annual Abortion Statistics"—series AB No. 15 (1988), No. 16 (1989) and No. 17 (1990), published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys—copies of which are available in the Library. The 1991 information is not yet available. The complication rates in places approved under section 1(3) of the Abortion Act 1967 are monitored by the Department, but information about individual places is not published.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS hospitals are currently using macerators to dispose of the remains of pre-born children;
(2) how many health authorities have complied with guidelines issued to them by her Department regarding the disposal of pre-born children and their remains.

§ Mr. Sackville
I am not aware that any hospitals are currently using macerators for the purpose in question. The guidance issued by the Department to the NHS in November last year requires that the use of maceration and sluicing methods of disposal should cease by no later than 1 January 1992. Additional guidance on the sensitive disposal of the dead fetus and fetal tissue was issued to the NHS in December 1991. Compliance with this guidance is a matter for individual health authorities.
Copies of the guidance are available in the Library.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if. she will publish the reports compiled by inspectors from her Department regarding the private clinics providing abortion inspected by them.

§ Mr. Sackville
No. These reports contain confidential information.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all places currently approved under section 1(3) of the Abortion Act 1967 together with the names of their proprietors and any company name associated with their clinic or advice agency together with the names of any company directors.

§ Mr. Sackville
A list of places currently approved under section 1(3) of the Abortion Act 1967, together with the names of their proprietors, is held in the Library. Information about related companies and directors' names is provided to the Department on a "commercial in confidence" basis and cannot therefore be disclosed.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines on the counselling of mothers before and after abortion are issued by her Department; whether these are binding on the NHS and private clinics; what checks are conducted to ensure the quality of counselling; and if she will place a copy of such guidelines in the Library.

§ Mr. Sackville
Guidance on arrangements for counselling women seeking abortion was issued in 1977—circular HC(77)26—to the national health service and places approved under section 1(3) of the Abortion Act 1967. This remains current and a copy is available in the708W Library. Compliance in the NHS is a matter for individual health authorities. In the private sector, counselling arrangements are checked by the Department's officials in the course of their regular unannounced inspection visits to places approved under the Abortion Act 1967.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her policy regarding the institution of a system to record the actual handicap suffered by a pre-born child aborted on grounds of disability.

§ Mr. Sackville
The notification form for each abortion requires the operating practitioner to state the main medical condition for the abortion. Ground E of the Abortion Act 1967, as amended, allows an abortion where there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped. In such cases, there is a requirement to provide on the notification form information about the condition of the woman, and the fetus. Additionally, where abortions take place after 24 weeks' gestation, a full statement of the medical condition of the fetus is required.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department receives copies of the annual reports and accounts of the companies that provide abortion in private clinics together with the reports and accounts of any parent or subsidiary companies.

§ Mr. Sackville
No.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is issued by her Department on the definitions of substantial risk and seriously handicapped in the grounds under which a pre-born child may be aborted for disability; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. Sackville
Decisions as to what constitutes "substantial risk" and "seriously handicapped" within the grounds specified in the Abortion Act 1967 are matters for the clinical judgment of the doctor concerned, taking account of the facts and circumstances of each case.