Staff at abortion clinic did not have appropriate training to identify abuse

By Jacob Phillips, local democracy reporter

An abortion clinic has been put under special measures as staff did not have proper training to identify abuse.

Staff at the Gynae Centre in Westminster were discovered to not have the appropriate safeguarding training, and medicine posted to patients was not labelled properly.

When an inspector visited on August 6 and August 12, the clinic did not have systems to identify how effectively they prevented infections.

The abortion clinic, based off Harley Street, completed 1,111 abortions in the last year, as well as 95 surgeries.

Women were treated for a range of cosmetic vagina surgeries, including operations involving botox and tucking in labias.

But staff were not trained to recognise abuse and pills and medicine were posted to patients in paper bags without advice on them.

Patients were also put at risk of not being able to take medicines as described because of poor labelling, a Care Quality Commission report said.

Staff did treat patients with compassion and respected their privacy, dignity and religious beliefs a CQC report published on October 26 said.

But inspectors will return to the clinic in six months’ time to ensure the appropriate changes have been made.

Professor Ted Baker, chief inspector of hospitals, said: “I am placing the service into special measures.

“Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months.

“If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate overall or for any key question or core service, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.”

The Gynae Centre was contacted for comment.