Archived: BPAS - Portsmouth

Patients told us staff were caring and compassionate, and treated them with respect. They felt involved in their care and they said they would recommend the service to others based on their own experiences. The service actively sought their views to help improve care and treatment. We observed staff provided care in a non-judgemental way and supported patients to make independent decisions about their pregnancy.

Average waiting times from consultation to treatment were 11 days. Feedback from patients showed they were satisfied with the wait times.

Staff carried out risk assessments, to check patients made their own decisions and were suitable for the type of abortion selected. They undertook safeguarding risk assessments for children and young people and worked collaboratively with local services such as sexual health teams, safeguarding and the early pregnancy units. Theatre staff used the BPAS surgical checklist and recovery staff monitored patients post-surgery for any deterioration in health, and took necessary actions. The service had undertaken scenario-based emergency training and there was a transfer agreement with the hospital if emergency services were required.

Staff checked they followed safe systems for medicine administration, infection control and surgical procedures, by carrying out regular audits and following policies based on best practice guidelines. Staff checked equipment such as scanners and surgical sets. However, the service did not gain assurance from the host hospital that relevant parts of the premises were maintained safely, such as the theatre ventilation system.

There was a clear governance framework, with incident reporting procedures, complaints management and root cause analysis. There was effective information sharing to promote learning and improvement.

Staff said their managers provided good support. They had access to professional development and staff were up to date with mandatory training and appraisals. New nursing and midwifery staff said the induction had been useful, and there was good access to clinical supervision and training.

Staff completed clear records and documented risk assessments and management plans. They kept records securely and were careful to maintain confidentiality. Doctors completed the legal forms for termination of pregnancies, the HSA1 and HSA4 forms, correctly. However, although the surgeon and anaesthetist signed the surgical register after each surgical abortion, the theatre nurse, who prepared the list, pre-stamped the date and signed their part of the register in advance. This was against record keeping standards.

BPAS Portsmouth had worked collaboratively with the commissioners to extend their services to include terminations for patients with complex medical conditions, as well as offering terminations for fetal abnormalities. The unit treated specialist placements for terminations, including those not funded by the local commissioners, by using the BPAS charitable funds.

The unit monitored the timeliness of treatments. When demand was high the unit responded by allocating stand-by appointments to help reduce waiting times.