Early medical abortion in Irish general practice: the Activity Data on Abortion in General Practice (ADAPT) data collection project and telemedicine as routine care.

BACKGROUND

Early medical abortion (EMA) in Ireland is delivered through general practitioners (GPs) operating within a nationally standardised, three-visit care protocol. Since 2020, a blended model has emerged in which the initial consultation and follow-up may be conducted by telemedicine, with in-person attendance required for medication administration. We describe the development and implementation of the Activity Data on Abortion in General Practice (ADAPT) data collection tool and present the first GP-level evidence on the integration of telemedicine into Irish GP-delivered EMA.

METHODS

ADAPT was developed in 2025 by a subcommittee of the Southern Taskforce on Abortion and Reproductive Topics (START) and researchers at Trinity College Dublin to fill a critical void in abortion data collection in Ireland. The tool collects 49 prospective anonymous patient- and practice-level measures. Descriptive, provider-level statistics were reviewed.

RESULTS

Between August 2025 and April 2026, 124 GPs expressed interest in ADAPT, 112 signed consent and data-sharing agreements and 64 submitted at least one complete patient record. Of these 64 GPs, 48.4% provided mixed (both remote and in-person) consultation modalities, 32.8% delivered fully in-person care and 18.8% provided fully remote care at Visit 1, with no significant differences by provider characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

ADAPT provides the first structured GP-level evidence base for EMA in Ireland. Our early data show that telemedicine is not a marginal or exceptional feature of Irish GP-delivered EMA: the majority of participating GPs offer it in some form.