Sexual and Reproductive Health Services, England (Contraception) April - September 2020 (provisional statistics)

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. 

Please note, this 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. Additionally, overall contacts may be affected by changes in recording practices for non-contraception related activity over time, though efforts have been made with data providers in recent years to ensure completeness and consistency. Contacts for reasons of contraception should be less affected by these issues.

People may contact SRH services for a number of reasons, including but not exclusively:

• Provision of a main or supporting method of contraception, or contraception advice.
• Provision of emergency contraception.
• Removal of contraception devices.
• Sexual health advice and STI care.
• Pregnancy or abortion related issues.

For non-contraceptive activity taking place at SRH services, SRHAD only includes summary data. More detailed data on services relating to Genitourinary Medicine, is collated by Public Health England:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sexually-transmitted-infections-stis-annual-data-tables

This section provides a summary of the main findings from the April to September 2020 SRHAD collection. 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.}

Contacts with SRH services

A contact is defined as a contact with the service, including external contacts, i.e. where an individual patient receives care outside the clinic setting, for example in his or her own home.

In April to September 2020 there were around 650 thousand contacts with SRH services, down 35% from nearly 1 million during the same period in 2019. 

Over the same period, contacts for reasons of contraception have fallen 37% , from 669 thousand to 419 thousand.

For more information: Data tables 1 (national) / 6a and 6b (sub-national).

Uptake of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC)

Note: In 2014/15, there was change to the methodology for identifying the main method of contraception. Although this means there is no directly comparable time series before 2014/15, the general trends over time are not affected. See part C of the appendices for more details of the change in methodology.

In April to September 2020, 43% of females in contact with SRH services for contraception were using a LARC. This has fallen from 46% in 2019/20 (full year). Prior to this LARC uptake had been steadily increasing.

57% had a user dependent method in use, an increase compared to 54% in 2019/20 (full year).

For more information: Data tables 3 and 4 (national) / 7a and 7b (sub-national).

Emergency contraception provision

Figures in this part do not represent the full volume of emergency contraceptives provided in England as it relates to emergency contraception provided at SRH services only. 

Since 2001, the reclassification of emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) meant that it could also be purchased over the counter at a pharmacy without a prescription (by females aged 16 and over). In addition, nurses and pharmacists can supply EHC to females of all ages under a Patient Group Direction (PGD). PGDs are documents which make it legal for medicines to be provided to groups of patients without individual prescriptions having to be written for each patient. Data on supply by PGD are not collected centrally.

19,401 emergency contraceptive items were provided by SRH services from April to September 2020, down from 41,167 during the same period in 2019, a fall of 53%. This is a much sharper decline than seen in previous years.

Emergency contraceptive items provided to under 16's fell 71% across the same period (2,297 to 655).

For more information: Data tables 1, 5a and 5b

Non face to face contacts

Non-face to face contacts (for example, by e-mail, telephone, SMS, talk type) were added to the scope in version 2 of SRHAD from 2015/16. Since then, they have accounted for only a small percent of annual contacts (between 1 and 3%). However, in April to September 2020, 44% of contacts were not face to face at a clinic.

For more information: Data tables 2 (national) / 6a and 6b (sub-national).