§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health in which areas the morning-after pill is available to(a) girls aged 14 and 15, (b) girls aged 12 and 13 and (c) girls under-12 without a doctor's prescription; and what measures are in place in each such area to address issues of child abuse. [28208]
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§ Yvette CooperAll emergency contraception supplied to under-16s is a prescription only medicine (POM). This is provided under medical supervision which includes other health professionals supplying the POM product under patient group directions. Information collected centrally of the number or prescriptions for emergency hormonal contraception dispensed in family planning clinics and prescriptions dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors in England is included in my reply to the hon. Member on 23 January 2002,Official Report, column 965W.
Health professionals providing contraception to under-16s do so within a legal framework established in 1986. This involves assessing the young person's competence to understand the choices they are making and whether the treatment is in their best interests. Health professionals, like any other professional whose work brings them into contact with children and families, should follow the Government's "Working Together to Safeguard Children" child protection guidance. This guidance sets out how all agencies and professionals should work together to promote children's welfare and protect them from abuse and neglect. It is intended to provide a national framework within which agencies and professionals at a local level—individually and jointly—draw up and agree upon their own more detailed ways of working together.