"Two weeks wait"

In the whole of Greater Glasgow and Clyde, it seems that the only sexual health clinic that offers termination of pregnancy is Sandyford. They are incredibly busy, understaffed and don't have enough resources, with waiting lists of a hundred people to access this service and waiting times of 2 weeks just to get a first consultation.

Their dedicated abortion line, TOPAR, the only phone number signposted everywhere, is not available to talk to anybody for counselling nor advice nor options nor support, despite what it says on their webpage (somebody should update this). I have been calling every day and nobody picks up, you can only leave them a message but there are no instructions anywhere about when or if they will get back to you. There's no professional to talk to about the process, with my own GP and Sandyford administration trying to be helpful but only saying that I just have to wait.

The BPAS, were only able to offer me a private abortion for 570£ if I travelled to England.

NHS Lanarkshire can't help you either because you don't live there. Having an abortion is already a difficult process mentally and physically for many people and you can only imagine how the uncertainty of waiting indefinitely is affecting my mental health, my anxiety getting worse each day that passes, depressive symptoms coming back since I left my antidepressants months ago and pregnancy symptoms starting. And I'm only 4 weeks pregnant, I can't imagine how horrible it must be for someone for whom waiting two weeks could mean the difference between riskier pills or between a medical and a surgical abortion.

The further you are into the pregnancy, the riskier the abortion seems to be, the NHS warns, you should call as soon as you can, they say. It is unclear whether Sandyford has a way of telling who is further into the pregnancy to prioritize them or if it is on a first come first served basis. This is in no way Sandyford Clinic's fault, I've been told the admins, nurses and doctors there are incredibly helpful, supportive and understanding once you manage to get an appointment. But it is unacceptable that this is the state of abortion services in Glasgow and I would like to know why funding for this is not being prioritised and who I can speak to in order to complain further.

Waiting time

Being given time

Being listened to