Mum demands answers from health chiefs over 13-year-old's contraceptive implant (From Daily Echo)

Mum urges health chiefs to review sexual health services for youngsters

4:00pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Education By Melanie Adams , Health Reporter

Health bosses asked a mother for permission to talk to her young daughter about contraceptive services – even though they fitted the 13-year-old with a birth control implant without her knowing.

The face-to-face meeting came after the Daily Echo broke the news that she had being fitted with the contraceptive implant on school grounds without the mother’s consent.

The angry mum demanded answers from Solent NHS Trust following her daughter’s minor surgical procedure and urged health chiefs to review the sexual health services they offer.

Although proud of her daughter for thinking to protect herself, the mum claims that even her daughter’s doctor was not informed and the girl was not made to have any follow-up appointments.

Following yesterday’s meeting the mum, who the Daily Echo has chosen not to identify, says health chiefs confirmed that no clinical tests for the implant had been carried out on those under 18.

Before the meeting started she placed a photograph of her daughter in the middle of the table.

She said: “I just wanted to let them know that she isn’t just an object or a statistic, she is a human being and, most of all, she is my baby girl.

“They admitted to me that clinical trials had only been carried out on those over 18, so how can they know that this device is safe for my daughter when it has never been properly tested?

“This makes the need for follow-up appointments for my daughter even more vital because they simply do not know how it would affect my 13-year-old, whose body is already going through so many changes.

“If tests have not been done on younger girls, they cannot know the side-effects this could have on their development.

“I am still so angry and frustrated. They couldn’t answer most of my questions and just said that there would be a full investigation into the service.

“I will take this all the way until something is done to change this.

“What I found hard to believe was that they said they would like to speak to my daughter but that they needed my consent to do that – a bit ironic when they feel they can perform a minor surgical procedure on her to fit an implant without my knowledge.”

Judy Hillier, director of nursing and quality at Solent NHS Trust, said: “I can confirm that we have met with the mother of one of our patients today to discuss some concerns she has had over services provided to her child. We cannot go into the detail of that discussion due to confidentiality reasons.

“We can, however, give assurance to anyone who comes into contact with any of our community and mental health services that we are an organisation that practices the ‘open and honesty policy’.

“We are more than happy to listen to and act on any concerns people may have regarding any aspect of the services we deliver.

“Our services use drugs and practices that are supported by evidence and are appropriate for all age groups. We also follow national guidance and comply fully with legal requirements.”