BPAS Taunton Central

Updated 30 March 2022

British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) Taunton Central provides a termination of pregnancy service in Somerset and the surrounding areas. The service provides termination of pregnancy as a single speciality service. BPAS Taunton Central offers consultation, medical assessment, early medical abortion up to nine weeks and six days, medical termination of pregnancy and surgical termination of pregnancy up to 13 weeks and six days weeks gestation, service specific counselling and treatment. As part of the care pathway, patients are offered sexual health screening and contraception. Surgical termination of pregnancy can be undertaken under conscious sedation or local anaesthetic according to patients wishes.

The service is not a telemed hub, which would have the capacity to complete visual telephone consultations, but does have the capacity to provide telephone consultations.

The service is registered to provide the following regulated activities:

• Termination of Pregnancy.
• Family Planning Service.
• Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury.
• Diagnostic Imaging Services.
• Surgical procedures.

Under these activities the service provided:

• Pregnancy Testing.
• Unplanned Pregnancy Counselling.
• Early Medical Abortion.
• Medical termination of pregnancy (MToP).
• Surgical termination of pregnancy (SToP).
• Abortion Aftercare.
• Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) testing and treatment.
• Contraceptive advice and supply.

The government legalised / approved the home-use of the medicine used, misoprostol in England from 1 January 2019. On 30 March 2020, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care made two temporary measures that superseded this previous approval. These temporary arrangements were aimed at minimising the risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) and ensuring continued access to early medical abortion services during the COVID-19 global outbreak. The temporary arrangement meant that:

Pregnant women (and girls) would be able to take the two medicines used, Mifepristone and Misoprostol for early medical abortion, up to nine week and six days gestation, should they meet the eligibility criteria, in their own homes without the need to first attend a hospital or clinic.

It is possible for a medical practitioner to provide a remote consultation and or prescribe medicines for an early medical abortion from their own home. rather than travelling into a clinic or hospital to work.

This service had not been inspected by CQC since a change in registration in 2017.

Updated 30 March 2022

BPAS Taunton Central is operated by British Pregnancy Advisory Service and was inspected on 6 January 2022 as part of CQC’s comprehensive inspection programme. The service has not been inspected since a change in registration in 2017.

From January 2021 to December 2021, the service completed 641 early medical abortions and 89 surgical abortions.

Prior to the inspection, inspectors reviewed monitoring and ongoing information about the service.

This location had not been rated previously. We rated it as requires improvement because:

• People could not always access the service when they needed it and often had to wait too long for a consultation. Waiting times were not in line with national standards.
• The service did not use a specific paediatric early warning score tool for use with children under the age of 16 years undergoing surgical terminations of pregnancy.

However:

• The service had enough staff who had training in the key skills needed. Staff understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Staff provided good care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and supported them to make decisions about their care.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
• The service treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and shared lessons learned with all staff.
• Leaders ran services well. Staff understood the service’s vision and values. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities.

Updated 30 March 2022

Safe was rated as requires improvement because :

The service did not use a specific paediatric early warning score tool for use with children under the age of 16 years undergoing surgical terminations of pregnancy. This meant that any patients under the age of 16 years were being assessed as adults.

However, the service had enough staff who had training in the key skills needed. Staff understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.

Effective was rated as good because :

Staff provided good care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and supported them to make decisions about their care.

Caring was rated as good because :

Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.

Responsive was rated as requires improvement because :

People could not always access the service when they needed it and often had to wait too long for treatment. Waiting times were not in line with national standards. However, staff made reasonable adjustments to help patients access services. They coordinated care with other services and providers. The service treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and shared lessons learned with all staff.

Well Led was rated as good because :

Leaders ran services well. Staff understood the service’s vision and values. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. Leaders operated effective governance processes, throughout the service and with partner organisations. Some areas of access and data governance needed more strategic provider action.