Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral contribution by the Under-Secretary of State for Health of 6 November 2017, Official Report, column 1306, what progress has been made on looking into the matter of the length of abortion waiting times; and if the Government will (a) set maximum waiting times for abortions and (b) publish regular statistics on abortion waiting times.

The Secretary of State for Health approves independent sector providers to perform abortions and all providers must agree to comply with the Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures (RSOPs). Under the RSOPs set:

- Women should be offered an appointment within five working days of referral or self-referral;

- Women should be offered the abortion procedure within five working days of the decision to proceed; and

- The total time from access to procedure should not exceed ten working days.

These good practice standards are in line with clinical guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Women can choose to delay appointments/booked procedures and this should always override issues of timeliness.