Pharmacy bodies have said that a Government commissioned emergency hormonal contraception service in pharmacies could “transform” what they described as inconsistent provision across local boundaries. 

Contractor bodies the Company Chemists’ Association and National Pharmacy Association, along with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, said England should follow Wales and Scotland in commissioning a nationwide EHC service available to all women free at the point of access.

In a joint statement released today (June 25), the organisations noted that the incidence of unplanned pregnancies is higher in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation, where women are more than twice as likely to have an abortion.

In Scotland and Wales, “the ubiquitous nature of the service has undoubtedly contributed to comparably lower levels of abortion per 10,000 female populations”, the organisations argued. 

Calling for an end to the “postcode lottery” in service provision, they said: “EHC services are already widely commissioned by an estimated 90 per cent of local authorities in England, but only around 48 per cent of community pharmacies are included in these services. 

“Variance in local service design, such as restrictions on patient usage, mean there is no standard offer for patients across England. 

“Furthermore, there are cases of pharmacies having to determine what level of care they can offer to a woman by literally asking her for her postcode.” 

Because of the current arrangements, EHC services cannot be promoted nationally and there are no national training requirements for pharmacies, said the organisations as they argued these issues “could be transformed” by commissioning a dedicated pharmacy service. 

“Additional investment in the commissioning of EHC and contraception services through community pharmacy will support the recently published Women’s Health Strategy while also dramatically improving access and setting higher standards of care,” they said.