The termination of pregnancy service at BPAS Basingstoke was following procedures to provide safe care to the women. There were sufficient numbers of suitably trained staff available to care for women. The environment and equipment was visibly clean and infection control procedures were followed. Staff were aware of safeguarding procedures and had received training in safeguarding adults and children.

Medicines were appropriately managed to ensure they were safe to use. However, there was not a clear audit trail for the request and receipt of medication. The supply chain for medicines was not in line with the current provider policy and there was no formal audit to monitor medicine management against the policy.

There were appropriate procedures to provide effective care. Care was provided in line with Department of Health Required Standard Operating Procedures. Women were cared for by a multidisciplinary team working in a coordinated way and staff had appropriate skills and competence. Women had access to BPAS Aftercare Line, a telephone service over 24 hours a day for seven days a week.

Women received compassionate care and their privacy and dignity was respected. All women considering termination of pregnancy had an access to pre-termination counselling. Women’s wishes were respected and their beliefs and faith were taken into consideration regarding the disposal arrangements for fetal tissue.

The centre was responsive to patient needs. A professional interpreter service was available to enable staff to communicate with women for whom English was not their first language. Support was provided to women with a learning disability or other complex needs. The service monitored its performance against the waiting time guidelines set by the Department of Health. Across Hampshire, for which Basingstoke is part, 56% of women waited longer than the recommended time of five working days from referral to consultation and 47% waited longer than five working days from decision to proceed to termination of pregnancy. The service had done a further analysis to establish the reasons for this which showed that some of the delay related to the women’s choice.

There were effective governance arrangements to manage risk and quality. Staff felt supported by the centre and regional management and considered the leadership and visibility of senior managers was good. The culture within the service was caring and supportive. The service was active in engaging with the wider public and service innovation was encouraged and supported. Staff spoke positively about the high quality care and services they provided for women and were proud to work for BPAS.

We spoke with two people who were using the service on the day of our inspection. We also spoke with three staff members.

One person told us “the staff have been great, they have been understanding”. Another told us “I have been given lots of information; they have also given me time to understand my options and make a decision.”

We looked at five treatment records. We saw that at each stage the process had been discussed and explained with the person. Each file showed that the person had signed to indicate they understood their planned treatment and that they agreed to it.

We noted that treatment records recorded each person’s preference and that this had been respected. The current health and medical history of each person had been checked by the nurse. The files we saw for people who had completed their treatment were signed by two GP’s. The signatures had been gained after consultation but before treatment.

There was a current safeguarding policy and staff were aware of their responsibilities to protect people from abuse.

Staff told us they were well supported. Training was monitored regularly and development needs fed into staff supervisions and job chats.

People were made aware of the complaints policy and how to make a complaint on their first appointment. Complaints were dealt with in a timely manner.