Comment on ‘Abortion care services delivered from a community sexual and reproductive health setting: views of health care professionals’

Shifting abortion care from a hospital to a community sexual and reproductive health care setting

“…Although the safety of outpatient EMA is well established,1 5 8 12 there are potential benefits to offering it from the specialist contraceptive setting of SRH, in terms of the expertise being available to provide quality advice on future contraception, and the availability of skilled providers who can offer and insert the most effective long-acting reversible methods of contraception that may prevent more further unintended pregnancies for more women13 (Cameron et al ., unpublished data, 2015). Also, integrated SRH services have genitourinary medicine specialists available and may do a better job of managing sexually transmitted infections among women requesting abortion, and undertaking contact tracing of partners, than those working in obstetrics and gynaecology departments.…”

Comment on ‘Abortion care services delivered from a community sexual and reproductive health setting: views of health care professionals’

“…We read with interest the article by Michie et al in the October 2013 Journal. 1 We are delighted that our colleagues at a sexual and reproductive health care meeting are supportive of the concept of running an abortion service from a community setting. In Torbay we have been running such a service for some years originally delivered by BPAS and now delivered, for the last 12 months, by the integrated Torbay Sexual Medicine Service (tSMS), hosted by South Devon Healthcare Foundation Trust (SDHCFT).…”

Comment on ‘Abortion care services delivered from a community sexual and reproductive health setting: views of health care professionals’: authors’ response

“…We thank Dr Kell and Ms McMahon for their comments1 on our article2 and for sharing their experience of running an abortion service from a community setting. It is reassuring to learn that both staff and patients welcomed this service and that both contraceptive provision and sexually transmitted infection diagnosis have improved as a result.…”