Hundreds of Dutch women need to wait more time than usual for an abortion at Casa abortion clinics, reports the Volkskrant on Tuesday.

There is especial demand among women who are more than 18 weeks’ pregnant and seeking a ‘late’ abortion, since one of three specialised Casa clinics offering this procedure has closed.

Due to a reorganisation and the partial bankruptcy of Casa, there is reportedly more pressure on its two clinics offering late abortions, as well as its seven clinics offering other procedures.

On Monday afternoon caretaker health minister Edith Schippers and the abortion clinic boards met and pledged to set up a working group to ensure proper abortion care continues.

Half of the 31,000 abortions performed annually in the Netherlands had been carried out at the organisation’s clinics.

Chairman of the board Ron Leenders told the Volkskrant they are working on overcoming staff shortages: ‘It won’t be until halfway through 2018 that the clinics in Amsterdam and Rotterdam will be functioning fully again,’ he reportedly said.

Earlier this month, an investigation by the Nederlands Dagblad alleged that it had found irregular billing practices for public subsidies at the clinics from 2000 to 2014, something that Leenders denied.