BPAS Annual Report March 2023

Its directors say that the last few years have been a ‘turbulent period within BPAS’; that seems like a fair conclusion given damning reviews from the Care Quality Commission, the loss of £millions, a failed IVF business, and the resignation of the CEO and more than half of the senior officers.

The BPAS Annual Report for 2022/2023 has just been published. Some highlights (perhaps better worded as lowlights) include:

• Abortion numbers were up by 18% year-on-year; a total of 109,500 in the year ending March 2023.
• 95,000 (87%) of these were early medical abortion, the majority provided as pills-by-post.
• 98% of these abortions were paid for by the NHS.
• Income from abortions was £48 million, an increase of 23% over the previous year.
• A loss of £2.2 million in the year ending March 2023, making a loss of more than £5 million over the two years 2021-23.
• The Board’s financial recovery plan required the closure of its loss-making fertility, IVF, business.
• BPAS began 2022/23 with a Section 31 notice from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) relating to 3 units in the North, requiring improvements in the quality of care; this notice was removed in October 2022 after reinspection by the CQC.
• In February 2023, the CQC conducted a well-led inspection which resulted in recommendations for improvement in risk management and the overall governance of BPAS. This was formalised into a Section 29 notice in May 2023. Further details are in this earlier post.
• In May 2023, the Trustees asked the Charity Commission for permission to appoint a paid executive chair to deliver the improvements demanded by the CQC. Permission was granted in November, and Dr Lucy Moore was appointed as the Executive Chair.
• In December 2023, the Trustees considered restructuring recommendations. The CEO, Clare Murphy left the organisation that month and the medical director, Dr Patricia Lohr stepped down from her role in January 2024.
• This annual report names 14 senior officers, including the CEO. Eight of these have resigned over the last 18 months.

BPAS is not a well-led organisation.