Public hospital pregnancy termination services: are we meeting demand?
OBJECTIVE
To identify the socio-demographic characteristics of women seeking termination of pregnancy through a public hospital service and explore issues of accessibility to the service.


METHODS
An audit of the Pregnancy Advisory Service (PAS) at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne from January to March 1996. Data were collected from 1,088 intake forms of women seeking an abortion.


RESULTS
The women were of low socio-economic status, with 437 (40.2%) living on a government pension or benefit and 55.6% holding a Health Benefits Card. However, only 33.8% were given an appointment for an abortion in the public clinic, with most (63.7%) referred to private services.


CONCLUSIONS
The demand for this public hospital abortion service exceeds its capacity and economically disadvantaged women are required to seek abortion in private services.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a role for regional health authorities to ensure adequate distribution of public hospital pregnancy termination services.
Black
K
K
Royal Women's Hospital, Victoria.
Fisher
J
J
Grover
S
S
D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014739:Victoria