Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of local councils that have reduced the number of sites commissioned to deliver contraceptive services; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such reductions.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Data collected on sexual health expenditure by local authority as part of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government General Fund Revenue Account Outturn data on Social Care and Public Health service spend show that 94 of the 152 local authorities spent less on sexual health services in 2017-18 than in 2016-17.
Returns from the Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset (SRHAD) data show that in 2017-18, there was a reduced number of services in 49 local authority areas compared to 2016-17. Other services may provide contraception but not complete a SRHAD return. Ongoing reconfiguration of individual sexual and reproductive health services can vary which means that reduction in number of services need not necessarily equate to reduction in overall provision. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general practice. No assessment has been made on the impact of these changes.
The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services, including advice on, and reasonable access to, a broad range of contraceptive substances and appliances. It is for local authorities to assess and understand local needs, including assessing the impact locally of reductions due to service reconfiguration, and determine how funding is spent to deliver services that meet those needs.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of councils that have reduced or plan to reduce their budgets for sexual and reproductive health services; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such reductions on women of reproductive age living in affected areas.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Data collected on sexual health expenditure by local authority as part of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government General Fund Revenue Account Outturn data on Social Care and Public Health service spend show that 94 of the 152 local authorities spent less on sexual health services in 2017-18 than in 2016-17.
Returns from the Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset (SRHAD) data show that in 2017-18, there was a reduced number of services in 49 local authority areas compared to 2016-17. Other services may provide contraception but not complete a SRHAD return. Ongoing reconfiguration of individual sexual and reproductive health services can vary which means that reduction in number of services need not necessarily equate to reduction in overall provision. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general practice. No assessment has been made on the impact of these changes.
The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services, including advice on, and reasonable access to, a broad range of contraceptive substances and appliances. It is for local authorities to assess and understand local needs, including assessing the impact locally of reductions due to service reconfiguration, and determine how funding is spent to deliver services that meet those needs.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions, and with whom, they have had about councils being unable to provide accurate data on funding for contraceptive services.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
No discussions have been held about councils being unable to provide accurate data on funding for contraceptive services. Data on local authority expenditure on contraception is reported to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of General Fund Revenue Account Outturn data on Social Care and Public Health service spend. Public Health England works with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to validate the data reported by local authorities before publication.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have considered the continuation of funding to the specialised Female Genital Mutilation service at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The NHS North West London Collaboration of clinical commissioning groups fund the Female Genital Mutilation clinic at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and there are no plans to discontinue this service.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why Viagra has been made available over the counter in pharmacies.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government has no specific plans to make oral contraceptive pills available without a prescription. Any applications to reclassify particular products from prescription only to non-prescription supply would need to be initiated by the manufacturer and would then be considered in accordance with its usual procedures by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
In accordance with its usual procedures the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved an application from Pfizer to reclassify the product Viagra Connect (sildenafil 50mg) from a prescription only medicine to a pharmacy medicine. After full assessment of the available evidence and having sought advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the product was considered safe to be supplied from pharmacies without prescription.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to make oral contraceptives available over the counter in pharmacies on the same basis as emergency contraception; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government has no specific plans to make oral contraceptive pills available without a prescription. Any applications to reclassify particular products from prescription only to non-prescription supply would need to be initiated by the manufacturer and would then be considered in accordance with its usual procedures by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
In accordance with its usual procedures the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved an application from Pfizer to reclassify the product Viagra Connect (sildenafil 50mg) from a prescription only medicine to a pharmacy medicine. After full assessment of the available evidence and having sought advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the product was considered safe to be supplied from pharmacies without prescription.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O'Shaughnessy on 10 May (HL7348), what is the difference in price between the oral contraceptive pills that can be prescribed by GPs.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
General practitioners can prescribe any oral contraceptive pill, according to clinical need. The costs are paid for by clinical commissioning groups. Some oral contraceptives pills cost more than others for the National Health Service. The latest reimbursement price for each oral contraceptive pill held by the NHS Business Services Authority as at 1 May 2018 is provided in the attached table due to the size of the data.
For most of the products listed the pack size covers three months. The difference in pack sizes means that different prices are not necessarily directly comparable. Reimbursement prices are the amounts paid to community pharmacies for dispensed products against an NHS prescription.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O'Shaughnessy on 10 May (HL7348), whether some oral contraceptive pills are more expensive for GPs to prescribe than others.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
General practitioners can prescribe any oral contraceptive pill, according to clinical need. The costs are paid for by clinical commissioning groups. Some oral contraceptives pills cost more than others for the National Health Service. The latest reimbursement price for each oral contraceptive pill held by the NHS Business Services Authority as at 1 May 2018 is provided in the attached table due to the size of the data.
For most of the products listed the pack size covers three months. The difference in pack sizes means that different prices are not necessarily directly comparable. Reimbursement prices are the amounts paid to community pharmacies for dispensed products against an NHS prescription.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many GP practices have a doctor or nurse trained in family planning methods or techniques provided by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Department does not hold information in the format requested on the number of general practitioner practices that have a doctor or nurse trained in family planning methods or techniques as provided by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.