Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Abortion notification forms for England and Wales, for what reason there is a discrepancy between the HSA4 paper form and the HSA4 electronic form related to written confirmation being required for patients under 13; and what safeguarding procedures her Department has put in place to ensure vulnerable children under 13 are cared for.

All abortion notification forms are reviewed and data quality checks are completed. Whilst electronic forms automatically send a prompt to check date of birth for a patient under the age of 14 years old, paper forms where the age is recorded as under 14 years old are returned by post for confirmation of the date of birth.

The Department has specific required standard operating procedures for independent providers to follow for those aged under 13 years old accessing services. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health recently published safeguarding guidance for those aged under 18 years old accessing services, which will ensure that robust safeguarding processes are embedded and that vulnerable children under 13 years old are appropriately cared for.