Early medical abortion in Irish general practice: the Activity Data on Abortion in General Practice (ADAPT) data...

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.

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.

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.

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.