This publication primarily covers contraceptive activity taking place at dedicated Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in England, as recorded in the Sexual and Reproductive Activity Dataset (SRHAD). SRH services include family planning services, community contraception clinics, integrated Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) and SRH services, and young people’s services e.g. Brook advisory centres. They provide a range of services including, but not exclusively, contraception provision and advice. A limited amount of data is presented from other sources; sterilisations and vasectomies in NHS hospitals (see part 4) and contraceptives dispensed in the community (see parts 3 and 5).
The primary focus of the SRHAD collection is contraception. Though a summary of other types of activity is collected, only contraception information is covered in detail, and this is reflected in the content of this report. SRHAD may not capture all non-contraception related activity taking place at SRH services.
Please note, the publication does not represent all ways in which a person may access contraceptive services. For example, it excludes services provided in hospital out-patient clinics and those provided by GPs as well as contraceptives purchased over the counter at a pharmacy or in other retail settings (unless otherwise stated)1. Therefore changes over time may be due to changes in the way people access sexual and contraceptive services.
A wider range of SRHAD data is published in the accompanying Excel spreadsheets. Full details of the data sources and other information can be found in the Appendices, and data quality issues are covered in the Data Quality Statement.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. A small amount of data from GPs may be included where SRH services sub-contract to GPs, or where SRH services undertake activity on GP premises.
