This consultation closed on 23 March 2012. We are currently reviewing responses and an outcomes document will be published in due course.

Introduction

The annual NHS Contraceptive Services: England publication primarily presents information on NHS community contraceptive services (family planning clinics and clinics run by voluntary organisations such as Brook Advisory Centres). This has been collected since 1988/89 through the KT31 return, which includes services provided by:

• Trusts in NHS clinics and as domiciliary visits
• Brook Advisory Centres

Information on NHS community contraceptive services excludes services provided in out-patient clinics and those provided by General Practitioners. However, limited data is presented for out-patient clinics sourced from The NHS Information Centre's (NHS IC) Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), prescription data from the Prescribing team at the NHS IC and survey data from ‘Contraception and Sexual Health 2008/09', a report published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the NHS Information Centre.

A new quarterly attendance level collection known as the Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset (SRHAD) started in 2010/11 and is currently running alongside the KT31 return. The Department of Health (DH) expect that KT31 will run together with SRHAD until all sexual and reproductive health services are able to submit SRHAD returns, at which point the KT31 will be retired, anticipated to be April 2013. When national compliance is achieved, the data will be published via quarterly and annual reports. Until then, the NHS Contraceptive Services publication will be based on KT31, with SRHAD data being mapped to KT31 data for publication.

KT31 data and SRHAD data are not collected on the same basis. KT31 is an aggregated dataset, collecting the total number of attendances, and then collecting information by gender, age and reason for attendance based on the first contact only within the financial year. Only the main method of contraception is recorded and changes in contraception method for attendees are not captured which is considered one of the limitations of the dataset. SRHAD is a record level dataset that captures all contacts at contraceptive clinics throughout the year, so the same person may appear in the dataset more than once. Data are also collected on the main and additional methods of contraception. (SRHAD data are anonymised before being submitted to the NHS Information Centre).

Aims of Consultation

This consultation aims to engage with users of the reports to enable us to develop a more complete understanding of the uses made of these statistics to ensure they remain relevant and useful. We would like to understand what purposes the statistics are used for, and whether the level of detail provided is sufficient.

We would also like to understand how the SRHAD record level dataset can be used to provide meaningful information for decision making and would seek your views on how you would like to see this information presented. These will be used to inform the content and design of the SRHAD based publication. Whilst we will consider all views we receive, we can not guarantee that we will be able to implement all of them.

Process

In accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, this consultation will be placed on the NHS Information Centre's website for 12 weeks. During that time we will pro-actively seek the views of known users of the reports whilst also publicising the consultation more widely. Following the consultation period, all comments we receive will be considered and decisions made on the future format of the publication. We will publish the outcome on our consultation page.

• Download the consultation document, NHS Contraceptive Services, England: Consultation Review

How to Respond

This consultation will run for 12 weeks from midnight on Friday 30 December 2011 to Friday 23 March 2012. Please ensure you submit any comments prior to the closing date so they can be considered. Comments can be returned via email to lifestyles@ic.nhs.uk or by post to:

Lifestyles Surveys
The NHS Information Centre
1 Trevelyan Square Boar Lane
Leeds
LS1 6AE

Comments are invited from all interested parties. When responding, please state whether you are doing so as an individual or representing an organisation. In case of any queries, could you please ensure that you provide contact details (name, email address, organisation).

If you would like to know more about the consultation or if you have any queries, please contact the Lifestyles Statistics Section Head at the NHS Information Centre:

Paul Eastwood
Email: paul.eastwood@ic.nhs.uk
Telephone: 0113 254 2509

Confidentiality and Data Protection

Please note that if you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, be aware that, under the Freedom of Information Act, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, among other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information, we will take full account of your explanation but we cannot give assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.