Public hospitals ‘not transparent’ with abortion referral criteria, doctors say
GPs need transparent information on abortion options, says Dr Heather McNamee
Public hospitals present themselves as last-resort options for abortion, using restrictive or hidden referral criteria to push patients into the private sector, GP researchers say.
Their study of the HealthPathways referral network found that two-thirds of public abortion services listed either warned GPs to prioritise private providers or spelled out restrictive criteria for accepting patients.
