HL Deb 23 July 2002 vol 638 cc61-3WA
Lord Stoddart of Swindon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When questions of conscientious objection to abortion referral and contraceptive provision to under-16s were included in local audits of general practice; and who they consulted beforehand. [HL5164]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Best Practice Guidance on the Provision of Effective Contraceptive and Advice Services for Young People was issued to local teenage pregnancy co-ordinators in 2000. The guidance is a specific action point of the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and sets out the criteria by which contraceptive advice services should be commissioned and provided. This includes the provision of confidential contraceptive advice to under-16s within the established legal framework, the provision of early pregnancy testing and non-judgmental advice, and, where abortion is the agreed course, quick referral to NHS funded abortion services in line with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Evidence Based Guideline 7 (2000).

In 2001 the Teenage Pregnancy Unit provided an audit questionnaire for local areas to review community contraceptive services and general practice against the Best Practice Guidance in order to identify gaps in provision and plan improvements. The majority of areas completed their general practice audits by March 2002.

The guidance and the audit questionnaire were developed in consultation with health professionals, including those representing general practice on the Government's Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it is their policy to encourage general practitioners to provide abortions or contraception to under-16s; and, if so, how they propose to do this. [HL5165]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy recognises the importance of helping young people resist peer pressure to have early sex while seeking to ensure that those who are sexually active have easy access to high quality contraceptive advice. Under-16s are at particular risk of unprotected sex. Although over a quarter are sexually active, they are less likely than older teenagers to access services and use contraception. Teenagers who become pregnant often delay seeking advice from a health professional and are more likely to have late abortions and miss out on antenatal care.

Improving access to professional advice by sexually active teenagers is a central strand of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. General practitioners have a key role to play in this. Best Practice Guidance on the Provision of Effective Contraception and Advice Services was issued in 2000 setting out the criteria against which services should be commissioned and provided. The guidance includes the provision of contraceptive advice to under-16s within the established legal framework and highlights that health professionals' duty of confidentiality to under-16s is the same as that owed to older patients. Services are also expected to provide early pregnancy testing, non-judgmental advice and, where abortion is the agreed option, quick referral to NHS funded abortion in line with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists evidence based guideline The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion (2000). General practitioners are expected to work to the principles of the guidance.

Section 4 of the Abortion Act 1967, as amended, which relates to conscientious objection to abortion, does not extend to giving advice or performing the preparatory steps to arrange an abortion where the request meets the legal requirements. Such steps include referral to another doctor, without delay.

Local teenage pregnancy strategy partnerships have been auditing services against the guidance to identify gaps in provision and plan improvements. Each area is developing plans with the relevant PCTs to support general practice in meeting the needs of their teenage patients. The Teenage Pregnancy Unit is also working closely with the Royal College of General Practitioners to develop relevant training materials.

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