Annual statistics on sexual and reproductive health services published

NHS Digital has published the Statistics on Sexual and Reproductive Health Services, England 2020-21 annual report.

The report primarily covers contraceptive activity taking place at dedicated Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in England as collected by the Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Data set (SRHAD). 

It provides national, regional, local authority and provider/clinic level analyses.

The report shows:

• a demographic breakdown of service users
• information about the provision of contraception, including emergency contraception, at sexual and reproductive health services
• the number of vasectomies and sterilisations at both sexual and reproductive health services and NHS hospitals over a ten-year period

The SRHAD does not cover all the ways in which a person may access contraception.  It excludes services provided in hospital out-patient clinics and those provided by GPs as well as contraceptives purchased over the counter at a pharmacy or in other retail settings

A limited amount of data on the numbers of NHS prescriptions for contraceptives dispensed in the community has been presented in the report, which primarily covers prescriptions from GPs.

Changes over time in this report may be due to the way people access contraceptive health services rather than changes in contraceptive use.

The report does not contain information about sexually transmitted disease screening or treatment.  This information is available from the Genitourinary Medicine Clinic Activity Dataset which is published by Public Health England.

Read the full report: Sexual and Reproductive Health Services, England 2020-21