In late April, two national newspapers both reported that over 60 doctors who illegally signed blank abortion consent forms – without seeing the woman seeking an abortion – would not be charged.
The articles highlighted that one doctor signed so many forms that they were still being used by the abortion clinic four years after he left.
They both pointed out that all the offending doctors were identified in an investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2012 and referred to the General Medical Council (GMC) but a freedom of information request uncovered that none of them would be brought before a fitness to practise hearing, where they could be disciplined, suspended, or struck off. The GMC refused to pass the names to the police, despite the fact that the offence could merit a jail sentence.
