Ministers agree that Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections and reports have raised considerable concern about compliance by Marie Stopes International (MSI) clinics with requirements set by the Department of Health and the CQC.

Findings of non-compliance related both to practices in the clinics inspected and at a corporate level and were so serious that they led to the suspension of certain services provided by MSI until steps were taken to ensure that these issues had been resolved to the satisfaction of the CQC. The CQC also issued 4 warning notices to MSI in response to regulatory breaches around ‘consent’, ‘safeguarding’, ‘care and treatment’ and ‘governance’, as well as a number of ‘requirement notices’ to support improvement.

The CQC considered MSI to have made sufficient progress and allowed services to be resumed from 7 October 2016. The CQC continues to monitor the progress of MSI and plans to inspect its centres and UK administrative offices again in the near future to ensure that ongoing improvements are made and maintained. The re-inspections will determine exactly how embedded the improvements have been.

The CQC has made clear that it will not hesitate to take further action, if necessary, to guarantee that MSI meets the standard of care it expects and that its patients deserve.

The Department continues to monitor the situation, with particular regard to the statutory approval responsibilities of the Secretary of State.