Professor Sean Daly:

I do not think so. GPs scan early in pregnancy to identify a foetal heart which anybody can see. It is just as the Deputy said. If they do not see it, they need to refer the patient on. I can totally understand primary health care physicians wanting to reassure women that everything is okay. If they use a scanner and see a foetal heart, everybody can see it, but it does not remove the need to refer on. Where GPs will potentially run into trouble is when they come back from a weekend course and think they can scan as well as anybody. That is a problem. If they are using an ultrasound machine just to document a foetal heart, it is probably okay.