A mum has blasted the treatment she received at an abortion clinic which has been handed a ‘requires improvement’ rating by inspectors. The 37-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, was eight weeks pregnant when she attended four years ago.
Facing medical problems outwith her pregnancy, the Middlesbrough woman knew she wouldn’t be able to cope with seeing it through and underwent an abortion at the BPAS Clinic based in the One Life Centre. In the weeks and months that followed the procedure, she knew something wasn’t right and eventually fell so ill she was sent to hospital.
Doctors discovered she had retained fetal tissue inside her body which had developed its own blood supply and told her she was lucky it hadn’t developed into sepsis. Last week, Teesside Live reported the clinic was given a ‘requires improvement’ rating by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission who raised concerns about staffing levels, poor medication labelling and a lack of systems to monitor under 18s.
Last August it was rated ‘inadequate’ and placed into special measures following an inspection when it was revealed five pregnant Teesside women had to travel to the North West for a termination due to a surgeon shortage at the clinic - after they had already taken the preparation drug Mifepristone.
Inspectors did, however, note a number of improvements have been made to the service since then. Their most recent report said systems have improved to safeguard people from abuse, staff provided good care and treatment and treated women with compassion and kindness.
But the Teesside mum, who did not want to be named, said it felt like a ‘kick in the teeth’ to read the clinic is still falling short in certain areas of care and she has spoken out about her experience in the hope it might help other women going forward.
She said she was referred to BPAS Middlesbrough in February 2018 by her GP, went through a consultation and was given medication internally and a tablet to take and was sent home. She didn’t feel as though things were progressing and rang the clinic several times. She says after two weeks she felt something pass - but she continued to bleed for around three months and was told it was an extra long period.
After she started to feel ill, she went back and she was scanned at the clinic, she says. The weather was very bad at the time and she says she was told some staff hadn’t been able to get in so a sister would look at the scan results later. They called and told her there was some retained tissue but nothing to worry about. But then things took a turn for the worse.
“I thought I’ve been scanned, they said it was fine, I wasn’t as worried. I continued bleeding but I had polycystic ovaries anyway and thought it was maybe that. Then I was shopping one day in Asda and I started shaking, sweat was dripping off my face, I didn’t feel right. I went and sat in the car, phoned my GP who got me an out of hours GP appointment. My blood pressure was through the roof so they sent me straight to hospital.
“On the ward, I told them about the termination and that I hadn’t stopped bleeding and was given a gynae appointment and a scan. They found retained tissue and said it had got its own blood supply. The doctor said they were surprised I wasn’t critically ill in hospital. It had just been left all that time, it could have caused sepsis.”
She was referred back to BPAS where she was scanned again and given some more tablets. Following her experience she wrote a letter of complaint and was told the staff member who saw her was no longer there.
“I can talk about it and not cry now but it felt like a punishment for the decision I’d made,” she said. “There just seemed to be no responsibility for it. I saw the story about the clinic and the ‘requires improvement’ rating and I felt like I needed to open my mouth. It felt like a kick in the teeth after what happened. I am a grown woman, I have children, I knew something wasn’t right but what if somebody else thinks that’s normal? I wanted to say what’s happened to me in case my story helps someone else.”
A BPAS spokesman said the service does not comment on individual cases but added: “Over the course of four years, many of our policies and procedures will have changed.”
Following the publication of the recent CQC report, the clinic said it is dedicated to constant improvement: “We are dedicated to constant improvement of our service and to providing safe, high-quality, accessible abortion care to all who need it.”
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