Summary

This bulletin contains information on NHS community contraception services from the KT31 return. It includes services provided by:

• Trusts in NHS clinics and as domiciliary visits
• Brook services.

It does not include services provided by consultants in out-patient clinics or those provided by General Practitioners. However, limited data is presented in this publication on out-patient clinics from The NHS Information Centre's Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and prescription data from the Prescribing Support Unit (PSU).

'Contraception and Sexual Health 2007/08', is published on the same day by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of our organisation. This is a sample survey of women aged 16 to 49 and men aged 16 to 69, in Great Britain, and gives an overview of all contraception used irrespective of whether it is provided by the NHS or not. It also asks about sexual behaviour and knowledge of sexually transmitted infections. Detailed results from this survey are available from the ONS web site.

As a result of detailed validation carried out as part of the 2008/09 NHS Contraceptive Services report, a number of errors were identified in the 2007/08 report.

As a result, an errata note is now available, published to coincide with the release of the 2008/09 NHS Contraceptive report. It details each error and provides the corresponding correction. These corrections have also been carried through to the latest report.

Key facts

• there have been around 2.6 million attendances (made by 1.2 million individuals) at NHS community contraception clinics every year over the last decade. There was a decline of 4 per cent to 2.5 million in 2006-07 but this was unchanged in 2007-08
• there were 1.1 million women attending community contraception clinics in 2007-08: a fall of 2 per cent or 22,000 on the previous year
• although they only account for 10% of attendances, the number of men attending clinics increased for the second consecutive year to reach 123,000: an increase of 5 per cent or just under 6,000
• the peak age group for clinic attendance was 16-19, based on the rate per 100 population; an estimated 20 per cent of women in this age group visited a clinic during the year. The equivalent figure for 15 year olds and under is 8 per cent
• oral contraception remains the most popular form of contraception among women, accounting for 46 per cent of female contraceptive use
• use of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) continues to increase and now accounts for 23 per cent of primary methods of contraception, compared to 21 per cent the previous year and 18% in 2003-04. LARCs include: IUD, injectable contraception, implants and IUS
• emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) became available over the counter (OTC) in pharmacies in 2001-02. Consequently emergency contraception issued by clinics has fallen by 30 per cent, compared to 2001-02, and was issued on about 136,000 occasions in 2007-08, a fall of 22,000 (14 per cent) on the previous year.