Vaughan Gething, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Members will recall my announcement on 17 April of my instruction to officials to begin work to amend the legal framework to allow the treatment of the termination of pregnancy (TOP) to be carried out at home.
I am pleased to inform you that the approval, allowing the second dose of medicine for TOP to be carried out at home, has been issued to health boards today.
The written notification can be found here:
https://gov.wales/legislation/subordinate/nonsi/nhswales/2018/2018direct56/?lang=en
The change in practice will improve the quality of medical TOP provision women receive as they will only be required to attend a clinic once and can self-administer the second medication in their own home. It will also reduce the burden currently placed on clinical resources, increase the availability of appointments for women who want to access TOP services and enable a greater number of women to access TOP provision at an earlier point in their pregnancy.