NHS community pharmacies are an accessible and convenient place for people to receive advice and support for managing contraception
NHS community pharmacies are an accessible and convenient place for people to receive advice and support for managing contraception
“The aim of the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service (PCS) is to offer people greater choice and access when considering starting or continuing their current form of oral contraception”
The aim of the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service (PCS) is to offer people greater choice and access when considering starting or continuing their current form of oral contraception. The service supports the important role community pharmacy teams can play to help address health inequalities by providing wider healthcare access in their communities and signposting service users to local sexual health services. It also aims to create additional capacity in primary care and sexual health clinics to help meet the demand for more complex assessments.
From Spring 2023, pharmacies in England have had the option to register for the NHS Pharmacy Contraception advanced service for the ongoing supply of oral contraception. All community pharmacists offering the service will have demonstrated competence in the specific skills and knowledge required.
From December 2023 the service expanded to give people the option of being able to have a confidential consultation with a community pharmacist to request a prescription of the contraceptive pill for the first time directly from their pharmacist, rather than from their GP or sexual health clinic.
The service is an integrated pathway between existing services and community pharmacies to enable greater choice and to widen access to services and support for high-risk communities and vulnerable patients.
A person may self-refer or be referred by their general practice, sexual health clinic or equivalent, to a participating pharmacy. A pharmacy may also identify a person is suitable for the service and highlight it to appropriate individuals.
The pharmacist will offer a confidential consultation and as part of that, will reach a shared decision with the person on the ongoing supply of their current oral contraception, ensuring clinical appropriateness.
This is an NHS service and so the supply of oral contraception will be exempt from any prescription charges.
Individuals do not need to be registered with a GP to access this service.
Pharmacies will only inform the GP practice that individuals have accessed the service, with their consent.
To be eligible to access this service a person must be an individual seeking to be initiated on an oral contraception, or seeking to obtain a further supply of their ongoing oral contraception:
- Combined Oral Contraceptive (COC) – from first menstrual period up to and including 49 years of age; or
- Progestogen Only Pill (POP) – from first menstrual period up to and including 54 years of age.
People who wish to consult another healthcare provider for contraception support are still free to do so.
To find a pharmacy delivering this service please search www.nhs.uk
The information in this article is largely drawn from the NHS England website: https://www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/pharmacy/pharmacy-services/nhs-pharmacy-contraception-service/
