Women at risk of having unplanned pregnancies due to NHS cuts leaving them unable to access contraception

NHS cuts are leaving women unable to access the most effective forms of contraception and placing them at risk of having unplanned pregnancies, a study has found.

The report, shared exclusively with The Independent, found GPs in England are being forced into shutting services and warn the service is totally unsustainable.

Primary Care Women’s Health Forum, which conducted the study, said this was the result of women’s health funding being axed by cuts and healthcare professionals struggling to access training which teaches them how to deliver long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) such as coils or implants.

Researchers, who warn the findings shine a light on the “fragility” of contraceptive services, said over half of GPs and practice nurses who stopped delivering such contraception said they were forced into stopping due to not being paid enough.

Over a third said it was because they were not contracted to do so, while almost one in 10 attributed it to not being able to fit sufficient numbers of coils or implants to preserve their skills.

Researchers drew attention to the fact recent figures demonstrate a quarter of pregnancies end in abortion in the UK – a is a record amount – adding this proportion will continue to climb if women carry on being denied contraception.

A health professional who spoke to researchers said: “I feel we are moving backwards and I am not surprised that based on recent figures 25 per cent of pregnancies end in abortion. This is a real shame and is avoidable. Women are being let down.”

The Primary Care Women’s Health Forum warned the context of pre-existing budget cuts being compounded by the coronavirus emergency means there are zero incentives for GP clinics to offer the most effective forms of contraception or train health professionals to fit them.

Services will fail to recover unless there is urgent intervention as the NHS starts restoring services in the wake of coronavirus chaos, researchers said.

The study, which polled 650 GPs and nurses, found fees for fitting coils and implants have not kept up with the cost of delivering services which makes it unfeasible for practices to offer services. GP clinics are given fees by local authorities for fitting such forms of contraception but there is a massive variation and postcode lottery in how much local authorities are willing to pay.

Just 1 per cent had seen an increase in the fee for fitting implants in the last three years – with only with 35 per cent staying the same and ten per cent actually dwindling.

While only 2 per cent had witnessed an increase in the fee for fitting coils for contraception, with 17 per cent remaining the same and five per cent experiencing a decline. More than a third of primary care professionals said training had shrunk in their area.

“I fear we have a skill timebomb about to happen as my generation of Larc fitters retire,” one health professional told researchers.

Cuts to contraceptive services are also having an impact on women who use coils or implants for menstrual or menopausal requirements.

Dr Anne Connolly, chair of Primary Care Women’s Health Forum, said: “Primary care is the first port of call for women wanting support with contraception or relief from heavy periods and symptoms of menopause. Fewer GP services are fitting coils and implants because the current system is not financially sustainable. This is bad for women, bad for GPs, and bad for the NHS.”

Women are being made to make longer trips to secondary care services or resort to using less reliable types of contraception in the wake of reduced services.

One survey respondent said: “As we are under so much pressure in primary care we had to stop fitting coils for a while earlier this year. We did not have enough GPs to do everything which causes a huge backlog. Part of this was for financial reasons.”

Another said: “As a practice we will stop fitting any coils or implants because the money makes it not worth our while. Family planning clinics and gynaecology outpatients had better brace themselves.”

The report comes after The Independent reported in April that women are struggling to access their usual methods of contraception due to sexual health services being plunged into chaos in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.