Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the context of the death of Sarah Dunn in April 2020, what steps his Department is taking to (a) prevent deaths following medical abortions and (b) improve safety standards for women seeking abortion.

Regular meetings are held with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and abortion service providers to ensure the appropriate safeguards are in place to protect women accessing abortion services.

All services registered by the CQC to provide termination of pregnancy services are subject to ongoing monitoring and providers have a statutory duty to report incidents to the CQC. Where concerns or evidence of risk are identified, the CQC will follow up to ensure the safety of woman accessing those services and will use its enforcement powers where necessary to protect people. In addition, Prevention of Future Deaths Reports play a valuable role in drawing matters of concern to the attention of the Government, its agencies and others to determine if action is needed or should be taken.