All woman should take pregnancy test before having NHS surgery to avoid ‘unnecessary harm’ to patients
- Guidelines state females should be asked if they are pregnant before operations
- A new study warns this is ‘unfit for purpose’ and could cause ‘unnecessary harm’
- Study author Dr Michael Wilson, of Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, said guidelines merely required staff to ask, ‘Is it possible you are pregnant?’
Every woman of child-bearing age – including teenagers – should have a pregnancy test before undergoing NHS surgery, say experts.
At the moment guidelines state female patients should be asked if they are pregnant before an operation.
But a new study warns this approach is ‘unfit for purpose’ and could cause ‘unnecessary harm’ to the mother-to-be or her unborn child, as many women do not realise they are expecting in early pregnancy.
A new study warns this approach is ‘unfit for purpose’ and could cause ‘unnecessary harm’ (stock image)
Study author Dr Michael Wilson, of Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, said guidelines merely required staff to ask, ‘Is it possible you are pregnant?’
‘If the patient says ‘No’, that is the end of the guidance,’ he said. ‘With all of the technology that we have at our disposal, there really isn’t any room for subjective evidence – which is what the guidelines ask. We should be finding objective evidence, which is a very simple urine pregnancy test.’
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said it was surprising the guidelines ‘appear to leave open a risk’ to women who did not know they were pregnant, and their unborn children.
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