A DOCTOR has raised concerns about the underfunding of contraception in Teesside.

GP Dr Rachel McMahon, who was speaking on behalf of the Cleveland Local Medical Committee, has said that the money that doctors’ surgeries can claim for fitting long-acting contraceptives, including the implant and the coil, is not as high as other parts of the country.

These types of contraceptives are more reliable than taking the pill, because rather than the person needing to remember to take a tablet every day, when they are fitted they can prevent pregnancies for years at a time.

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The Covid pandemic has also impacted the take-up of this type of contraception as it needs to be fitted in person.

Dr McMahon said: “There are some issues in this area with contraception access. Our long-acting contraceptives, so things like coils and implants are relatively underfunded compared with other areas.

“The fees that practices can claim for performing these services and fitting these long-acting contraceptives are relatively low compared to some other areas in the country.”

This can then have an impact on the number of places where people can access these services.

Dr McMahon added: “That means that practices don’t offer them [long-acting contraceptives], they can’t afford to offer them and patients have to wait a long time to get them fitted.

“That probably is impacting on the rates of unplanned pregnancies in the area.

“This has been further compounded by a recent change such that family planning clinics are not offering repeat prescriptions of the contraceptive pill anymore and that has just happened in the last few months so we will need to watch and wait on the impact that has on unplanned pregnancy rates.

“Certainly, people who used to use family planning services are the sorts of people who value walk-ins compared to booking appointments and it may well be that there is a negative impact on unplanned pregnancies as a result of this.”

Councillor Alma Hellaoui said that the lack of funding would ‘impact massively’ on Middlesbrough, especially the town’s underprivileged communities.

Talking more generally about health inequalities in the area, Cllr Hellaoui, said: “I could just express my outrage forever. I feel really frustrated that we as an area with massive need…there’s just a fundamental massive problem across the board.

“As long as we have got social inequalities we are going to have even greater health inequalities.”

According to the most recent figures, which reveal conception rates for under 18s, Middlesbrough has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country.

From July to September 2020 there were 20 pregnancies, giving a rate of 33.8 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 17, while the annual rolling rate in Middlesbrough is also the highest at 31.6 per 1,000.

While the number is still high, it’s significantly lower than the March 2007 peak of 62 pregnancies, which is the highest for the town since records began in 1998.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring the public are able to access the best possible birth control and contraception services. Local authorities are required to ensure sexual and reproductive health services are accessible, including by providing free contraception.

“Ensuring equal access to contraception, including long-acting reversible contraceptive methods, will be a key theme of our upcoming Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy and we have given more than £3 billion to local authorities to fund public health services this financial year, including sexual and reproductive health services.”

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