Direct booking of legal abortions by general practitioners to the surgery department--a pilot study

In order to facilitate the referral procedure for legal abortion, 26 GPs (34% of all GPs in the region) were given the opportunity to book patients directly to the operating unit, without an outpatient' visit to the gynaecology clinic. Thirty-eight patients booked directly to the operating unit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inUgeskrift for læger Vol. 162; no. 21; p. 3042
Main Authors Vaegter, K K, Karsten, I C, Anthonsen, B
Format Journal Article
LanguageDanish
Published Denmark 22.05.2000
Subjects
Abortion, Legal
Appointments and Schedules
Denmark
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Family Practice
Female
Humans
Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hospital
Outpatient Clinics, Hospital
Pregnancy
Referral and Consultation
Surgery Department, Hospital
Denmark
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:In order to facilitate the referral procedure for legal abortion, 26 GPs (34% of all GPs in the region) were given the opportunity to book patients directly to the operating unit, without an outpatient' visit to the gynaecology clinic. Thirty-eight patients booked directly to the operating unit by their GP for a legal abortion were compared to 144 patients referred in the same period of time, in the usual procedure to the outpatients' clinic. The number of legal abortions carried out, reasons for abortions cancelled, problems with the referral procedure and complications were registered. There were no differences between the two groups regarding the percentage of legal abortions carried out, the reasons for cancelled operations, problems with the referral procedure or operative complications. Direct-booking of legal abortion by the GP to the operating unit seems to be a safe and convenient alternative to the referral through a gynaecological outpatients' clinic. Further large scale studies are needed in this new field of communication.
ISSN:0041-5782