HC Deb 08 May 1990 vol 172 cc77-80W
Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the provision of contraceptive services for teenagers; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The Department asks health authorities, in organising contraceptive services for young people, to consider separate, less formal arrangements than those for older age groups, with staff experienced in dealing with young people and their problems. However, the level of such provision is a matter for individual health authorities to determine in the light of local needs and priorities. A number of health authorities provide services for young people through Brook advisory centres. On 4 April I announced increased central support for Brook of £65,000 per annum.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the voluntary organisations funded by the Department of Health involved in(a) family planning and (b) abortion;

(2) if he will specify the amount spent by his Department on voluntary organisations involved in family planning and abortion in each of the last five years.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The Department provides funding towards the headquarters administrative costs of the following voluntary organisations involved in family planning:

  • Family Planning Association
  • Brook Advisory Centres
  • Catholic Marriage Advisory Council
  • SPOD (The Association to Aid the Sexual and Personal Relationships of People with a Disability)

The amount given in section 64 core grant funding to these organisations in total, in each of the last five years, is as follows:

£
1986–87 222,250
1987–88 248,500
1988–89 248,500
1989–90 251,000
1990–91 308,200

A further £64,550 has been given in additional grants for one-off projects and capital equipment.

Grants are not provided to voluntary organisations involved in abortions.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the availability in the National Health Service of male and female sterilisation for non-medical reasons.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Health Authorities are asked to make both male and female sterilisation operations available as an NHS service both for medical reasons and on family planning grounds, and to ensure that persons with a priority need for the operation are enabled to receive it quickly. The priority which can be given to these operations generally is a matter for clinical judgment and local decision.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will mount a public information campaign on availability of family planning services.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Guidance issued by this Department to health authorities stresses the importance of widespread publicity about the availability of family planning services and gives advice on the type of information that should be provided and the various publicity methods that may be used.

The Family Planning Information Service, which receives substantial Government funding through the HEA, produces a series of leaflets, available to the public, about the various methods of contraception. These leaflets also contain information about how to find a family planning doctor or clinic.

In addition, family practitioner committees and general practitioners themselves are required to publish, and make available to the public, information about whether individual general practitioners provide contraceptive services.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of doctors currently in general practice who(a) hold and (b) do not hold qualifications issued by the joint committee on Contraception.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The information is not held centrally. Advice from the joint committee on contraception indicates that up to 14 March 1990 a total of 27,077 certificates have been issued to doctors in the United Kingdom. However, within this total, no breakdown is readily available for general practitioners.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of unplanned and regretted pregnancies in each of the last five years.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Information on the number of unplanned and regretted pregnancies is not available.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the training provided for general practitioners both initial and in-service on contraception.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

All medical students receive instruction in the principles of human reproduction and family planning.

GP trainees are instructed by their trainers at practice family planning clinics and may also attend theoretical and practical family planning courses provided by health authorities to obtain the family planning certificate. Updating courses on contraception are also provided for established principals by health authorities and medical institutions.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the help available to women to assist them in avoiding unplanned pregnancies.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Free NHS family planning advice and services are available from specialist clinics and from general practitioners. Some 4 million people make use of these services each year. A wide range of information and help on contraception and planned

Family planning clinic services: 1983–1987/88
Number of sessions held at family planning clinics
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987–88
England 200,129 197,127 196,075 195,700 190,935
Northern 10,791 11,113 10,436 10,870 10,667
Yorkshire 12,106 11,998 11,966 11,908 11,952
Trent 15,099 15,286 14,994 14,367 14,019
East Anglia 5,848 5,853 5,674 5,326 5,428
North West Thames 20,200 20,069 20,048 21,064 17,704
North East Thames 20,638 20,363 21,970 22,422 21,962
South East Thames 19,944 19,920 19,024 18,316 17,994
South West Thames 16,452 16,041 15,346 15,385 15,154
Wessex 9,952 10,006 10,500 10,375 10,511
Oxford 8,627 7,704 7,739 7,557 8,357
South Western 11,233 10,541 10,454 10,337 10,036
West Midlands 23,172 22,225 21,338 21,491 21,135
Mersey 10,101 9,965 9,850 9,964 9,857
North Western 15,966 16,043 16,736 16,318 16,159

parenthood is also available from voluntary bodies like the Family Planning Association, Brook advisory centres, the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council and the Association to Aid the Sexual and Personal Relationships of People with a Disability, all of which receive a departmental grant. In addition the Family Planning Information Service, which receives financial support from the Government-funded Health Education Authority, also provides information and material to the public, professionals and media on family planning methods and services and related areas of health care.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the change in the availability of family planning clinic services in the last three years.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

We are aware that a number of health authorities have made or propose to make reductions in the number of sessions offered by their family planning clinics, often as part of a rationalisation of services to make more effective use of available resources. About two thirds of the 4 million people who make use of the NHS family planning services each year go to their GP. The day to day management of health services such as this is a matter for individual authorities since they can best judge local circumstances and needs. However, guidance issued by this Department makes clear that we expect health authorities to strike a balance between services provided by specialist clinics and those provided by GPs.

Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state for each regional and district health authority the number of sessions of family planning clinics held in each of the last five years.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The number of sessions held in each regional health authority, in the five years up to 1987–88 is shown in the table. Over the same period the number of people seeing GPs for family planing services increased by 8 per cent. Data for 1987–88 are for the financial year, those for earlier years are for the calendar year.

Figures for district health authorities for the five-year period are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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