Western Trust to recommence early medical abortion services

The Western Trust is to recommence its early abortion services as early as July, BBC Radio Foyle understands.

It is also understood the trust has now appointed a new consultant to support the nurse-led service.

The Western Trust suspended its early abortion services in April 2021 due to "staffing resourcing issues".

Abortion laws in Northern Ireland changed in 2020 after the UK government acted during the absence of a functioning Stormont assembly.

But services are largely limited to early medical terminations up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Those seeking abortion services not yet provided by health trusts in Northern Ireland can access services in Great Britain through arrangements funded by the Department of Health.

Last month, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis instructed the Department of Health to begin the process of setting up a fully-funded abortion service for Northern Ireland.

In April 2021, the Western Trust announced it was suspending its interim early medical abortion services as the system was "no longer sustainable".

It was described at the time by the trust as a "temporary pause" in the service.

The trust said it needed additional nursing and medical support in order to deliver the service, and that it was exploring options to resolve the issue.

The guidance on the Western Trust website for women since the suspension of services has been to contact the British Pregnancy Advisory Service if they were less than 10 weeks pregnant.

If more than 10 weeks pregnant, the Western Trust website provided guidance on seeking free abortion care in England.

The pro-choice group Alliance for Choice Derry has said since the early medical abortion service has been suspended at the trust, one person a week has contacted it for support.

"There is a lot of stress, a lot of fear, a lot of panic and it's really sad to see," Bethany Moore from the group said.

"We have people contacting us and saying things like: 'I thought this was all sorted and I was able to get this at home' and a lot of questions about whether they have to travel to England."

However, anti-abortion group Both Lives Matter said it had "grave concerns" over access to abortion services in Northern Ireland.

Spokeswoman Marion Woods said it was hypocritical to fund abortion services when "there is no money there to enable women to continue with their pregnancy and then see what other options there are".

Services had been introduced in Northern Ireland, she said, "by a bad law brought about by a bad process".

Sinead McLaughlin, SDLP assembly member for Foyle, said she was disappointed it had taken so long.

"It's welcome news certainly that appointments have been made and the appropriate nurse-led service will be put in place, but my disappointment is it's taken so long," she said.

"When it was first paused back in April 2021 it was thought it would be paused for a couple of months.

"Now we see 14 months later that this really important women's reproductive healthcare provision has not been available to women in the Western Trust.

"That covers women right through from Enniskillen to Derry and beyond."

A spokesperson for the Western Trust said the service was paused in April 2021 due to "staff resourcing issues".

"In the interim, from 1 April 2022, this service has been available to anyone in the Western Trust area via our neighbouring Health and Social Care Trusts," they said.

"The trust is currently working to recommence the early medical abortion clinic within the next number of months in accordance with the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020.

"And have recruited to a number of vacancies to support the service going forward.

"We apologise that this service has not been in place within the Western Trust for the past year."

They added that the trust continues to work collaboratively with the necessary stakeholders to "get this service in place with the appropriate support as soon as possible".

The Department of Health said the Western Trust is "currently finalising plans to restore its early medical abortion service in the coming months".