Women spend about 30 years of their life needing to avert an unplanned pregnancy.¹

In 2019, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists report ‘Better for Women’ called for easy access to contraception, abortion and fertility services. One of its recommendations was “Accessing the full range of contraception methods should be as easy as possible for all women.”²

It also recommended that access to progestogen-only (POP) contraceptives and emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) should be made as easy as possible for all women. Action was needed to address the “missed opportunities and barriers to women accessing contraception, in particular long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), and contraceptive advice and counselling.”

Community pharmacy is now building its role in this area. Contracts are evolving with patient group directions (PGDs) permitting repeat supplies and ‘bridging’ contraception. In due course, community pharmacists will be initiating oral contraception, monitoring contraceptive devices and supplying long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) implants.^3,4

Over the counter medicines availability started with levonorgestrel in 2001 and ulipristal in 2015 for morning after pill contraception, while the first two OTC ‘minipills’ (containing desogestrel) were licensed in 2021.^5,6,7