Women in the UK are waiting too long for abortions, according to a major review into a leading provider.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) undertook a review of leadership at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), one of the UK’s main abortion clinics. The evaluation found there were delays in investigating serious incidents and that remains of some pregnancies were sometimes not stored properly in line with policy. There were also issues with record keeping, patient monitoring and safe care. It noted that “women did not always receive care in a timely way to meet their needs”.

BPAS delivers pregnancy terminations for the NHS to more than 100,000 women every year, with 49 clinics in England coming under the CQC’s remit.

The health watchdog said it found “significant concerns” in August 2021 “that safe care was not being provided”, with “ineffective safeguarding processes”, “incomplete risk assessments”, “observations [that] were not monitored or recorded” and “records [that] were not fully completed, clear or up to date”.

The CQC was concerned about “ineffective systems to safely prescribe, administer and store medicines” while recognising that staff did not report incidents and managers failed to consistently check that staff followed national and local guidance. 

The watchdog noted: “Staff did not always support clients to make informed decisions about their care and treatment.”

CQC’s review uncovered there was no system to track risks, and no clear route for local risks to be escalated to the executive team.

A spokesperson for BPAS said the report raised concerns around governance and it would address the issues. It added that the supplier had provided healthcare for “record numbers of women” during the last three years. 

BPAS said it was “proud to have preserved access during the pandemic through the development of our world-leading telemedical abortion service”.

“The pace of change has been intense, and the rise in women’s needs has increased the pressure on our organisation,” the spokesperson added. “After a period of significant growth at a service level, we are now focused on ensuring that our policies, procedures, and structures are fully suited to the size and scale of the charity we have become.”

BPAS also noted that feedback given via the organisation’s online client satisfaction survey demonstrated 98% of those polled would recommend the abortion clinic to an individual in need of care. 

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