Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecology in Europe: Clinical Services, Standards of Care and Training.

To identify current clinical services and training available across Europe within Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (PAG) and establish the extent to which PAG services meet current European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (EBCOG) standards.Quantitative and qualitative questionnaire SETTING: European countries members of EBCOG and EURAPAG (European Association of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology) POPULATION OR SAMPLE: Thirty-six countries approached from September 2013, data obtained from 27 countries METHODS/INTERVENTIONS: Questionnaires with 28 stems were sent to clinical leads in 36 European countries.National society, national standards, legislation for female genital mutilation (FGM), protocols for transition to adult services, HPV vaccination programmes, sex and contraception education, safeguarding, clinical leads for PAG, delivery of PAG services and training available for PAG.Twenty-seven countries responded out of 36. Seventy-seven% have a national PAG society but only 44% have national standards in PAG. There is agreement that PAG cases should be multi-disciplinary but not all have clinical networks in place to facilitate this. HPV programmes are available in some European countries and not all have legislation against FGM. A significant proportion of cases continue to be seen in adult Gynecology clinics as opposed to designated PAG clinics with only 41% having processes to transfer patients into adult care.This paper provides a framework to explore areas for improvement within PAG services and training across Europe. The EBCOG standards of care are not being adhered to in many countries as processes and clinical networks are not in place to facilitate them.