Review of Abortion Law in Scotland Expert Group: report

Annex C

Direction to Health Boards on Data to be provided to Public Health Scotland

National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978

Abortion (Information) (Scotland) Directions 2022

The Scottish Ministers give the following Directions in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 2(5) and 105(7) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978^[257] and all other powers enabling them to do so.

Citation and commencement

1. These Directions may be cited as the Abortion (Information) (Scotland) Directions 2022 and come into force on 1 May 2022

Application

2. These Directions apply—

• (1) where a pregnancy has been terminated in accordance with section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967, and
• (2) in relation to terminations carried out on or after 1 May 2022.

Interpretation

3. In these Directions—

“PHS” means Public Health Scotland^[258],

“termination” means a pregnancy which has been terminated in accordance with section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967.

Provision of information to PHS

4. Where a termination is carried out by a medical practitioner, the Health Board who employs the medical practitioner must provide the information specified in the schedule to PHS no later than 30 days after the day on which the termination is completed.

Rectification of inaccurate information

5. (1) Where a Health Board has identified that any information provided in accordance with paragraph 4 is inaccurate the Health Board must correct the inaccurate information no later than 10 working days after the day on which the inaccurate information is identified.

(2) Where a Health Board receives notification from PHS that any information provided in accordance with paragraph 4 is inaccurate, the Health Board must correct the inaccurate information and provide the corrected information to PHS no later than 10 working days from the day the Board receives notification from PHS of the inaccurate information.

Maree Todd

Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers

St Andrew’s House

Regent Road

Edinburgh

EH1 3DG

Schedule

Article 4

Information to be provided to PHS

• 1. The Community Health Index (CHI) number of the patient (where available)
• 2. Surname of the patient
• 3. Forename(s) of the patient
• 4. Patient’s postcode
• 5. Date of birth of the patient
• 6. Ethnicity of the patient
• 7. Location (Name of Hospital) being the primary location where treatment was provided
• 8. Date of termination
• 9. Termination outcome
• 10. Statutory ground(s) for termination under the Abortion Act 1967
• 11. Specific indications for termination in either the patient or the fetus (where applicable)
• 12. If the termination was a selective reduction and (If it was a selective reduction), original number of fetuses and number of fetuses reduced to
• 13. Gestation of the patient’s pregnancy in weeks
• 14. Method by which gestation has been estimated
• 15. Previous number of pregnancies of the patient and (if there have been previous pregnancies) numbers of previous live births, stillbirths, spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) and terminations of pregnancy
• 16. Surgical method used (where applicable)
• 17. Medical method used (where applicable)
• 18. Where antiprogesterone (e.g. Mifepristone) was taken (where applicable)
• 19. Where prostaglandin (e.g. Misoprostol) was taken (where applicable)
• 20. Second hospital (Treatment Centre) (if applicable)
• 21. Second treatment provided (if applicable)