Updated
13 October 2025
BPAS Birmingham Central is operated by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).
The service provided termination of pregnancy as a single speciality service. Although the service was based in Birmingham it was commissioned to provide a service to women across the West Midlands and wider Midlands area.
BPAS Birmingham Central offered consultation, medical assessment including ultrasound scanning, and early medical abortion for women with a pregnancy of less than 10 weeks gestation. The service did not provide surgical termination of pregnancy, but staff could make an onwards referral for women who requested this.
Treatment options were determined by the gestation of pregnancy and patient choice. As part of the care pathway, women were offered sexual health screening and contraception.
The service operated a TeleMedical Hub, this was a remote/digital early medical abortion service. This part of the service was available for women who wanted to manage their termination of pregnancy at home and had a pregnancy of less than 10 weeks gestation.
From March 2024 to March 2025, the service completed 14,327 early medical abortions.
This assessment was carried out because of risk. We received 3 notifications regarding early medical termination of pregnancy resulting in the delivery of fetuses with a longer gestation than expected.
A team of 1 CQC inspector, and 1 specialist advisor visited the service on 29 April 2025. We spoke with 11 staff (including midwives, nurses, managers, and administrative staff), and 5 women. We looked at 10 sets of patients notes and observed 3 episodes of care in the telemedical hub. We found there had been improvements in management of incidents and other governance processes in the telemedical call centre and clinic since our last assessment in 2022.
Updated
12 March 2025
We rated effective, caring, responsive, and well-led as good, and safe as outstanding.
Safe has been rated as outstanding. Safety was a priority for everyone, and leaders embedded a culture of openness and collaboration. People were safe and protected and safeguarded. Where people raised concerns about safety, the primary response was to learn and improve. Leaders ensured there were enough skilled staff to deliver safe care that promoted choice and people’s wellbeing.
Effective has been rated as good. Staff worked towards giving people and communities the best possible outcomes, by assuring their needs were assessed. Their care, support and treatment reflected these needs and any protected equality characteristics. Services worked in harmony, with people at the centre of their care. Leaders instilled a culture of improvement, where understanding current outcomes and exploring best practice was part of everyday work.
Caring has been rated good. This was because people were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. People understood that their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. Their privacy and dignity was respected. Every effort was made to take their wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.
Responsive has been rated as good. People and communities were at the centre of how care was planned and delivered. The health and care needs of people and communities were understood, and they were involved in planning care that met those needs. Staff were working towards improving access to care in ways that met people’s personal circumstances and protected equality characteristics. There was partnership working to make sure that care and treatment met the diverse needs of communities.
Well-led has been rated good. The service had strong governance structures that were used to improve the performance of the service and ensured the delivery of safe care and treatment. There was an inclusive and positive culture of continuous learning and improvement. This was based on meeting the needs of people who use services and wider communities. Leaders proactively supported staff and collaborated with partners to deliver care that was integrated, person-centred and sustainable, and reduced inequalities.