Establishing research priorities in abortion care: the importance of a UK-wide partnership approach

Abortion is a core component of reproductive healthcare and one of the most common clinical experiences of people’s lives.1 In the UK, however, it remains disproportionately under-researched relative to its prevalence and importance.

The 2019 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on abortion care (NG140) identified important evidence gaps in areas such as pain management and prophylactic antibiotic regimens among others, many of which remain unresolved.2 More recent research has identified additional uncertainties relating to the delivery, experience and accessibility of abortion care.3 At the same time, national policy ambitions such as NHS England’s vision for abortion services underscore the need for a stronger evidence base to underpin service development and improvement.4 The challenge is not only to identify gaps, but to determine which uncertainties should be prioritised for research.

The Abortion Care Research Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) is the first…

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