Contraception services in crisis, says fpa, UK

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 13 Oct 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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Commenting on the Annual Report of the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health, Anne Weyman, fpa Chief Executive said:

"We strongly support the recommendations of the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health concerning performance management of contraception services.

For far too long contraception has been treated as a Cinderella service and the easy choice for budget cuts. The resulting under-investment has left overworked yet essential community services struggling to cope. Effective monitoring of contraceptive provision by Primary Care Trusts is vital to ensuring access to the full range of methods at local level, along with investment in community services and general practice.

The ultimate losers in all this are women, who bear the brunt of poor service provision in terms of unplanned pregnancy and abortion. Yet recent research* for fpa shows that the NHS in England could save £500 million over 15 years in maternity and abortion costs, both by raising awareness of the 14 different methods of contraception and changing prescribing practices to better suit women's needs.

A further opportunity to improve contraceptive services will arise shortly through the review of the points structure within the Quality and Outcomes framework of the GMS contract. This governs provision of services in general practice, where eight out of ten women obtain their contraception.

The contract states that women must be informed about all methods of contraception, yet only two out of a possible 1,050 points currently relate to family planning. We urge the current review to allocate more points, which bring financial rewards, to ensure that general practices provide a high quality contraceptive service to all."

*Armstrong N, Davey C and Donaldson C, The Economics of Sexual Health. fpa 2005

fpa is the only registered charity working to improve the sexual health and reproductive rights of all people throughout the UK
http://www.fpa.org.uk

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