FSRH Consultation Response: FSRH welcomes Public Health England’s proposed changes to the Public Health Outcomes Framework 2019/2020

Public Health England (PHE) has launched a consultation seeking views on changes to the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF), which is due to be updated in summer 2019. In our response, we strongly supported the new proposed indicator on Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARCs). The inclusion of an indicator in the framework results in public bodies reporting on it, drawing the attention of local and national policy actors to the data collected.

FSRH has provided robust evidence in support of the proposed indicators in sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) and has highlighted room for improvement.

Key points we made included:

• The importance of maintaining indicators on conceptions in under-18s.

• A welcome for a new proposed indicator: ‘total prescribed LARC rate per 1000 females 15-44’. We strongly support this measure and wish it to be prioritised – with an extension of the range of provision from 44 to 55, in recognition of women’s continuing fertility beyond their early forties.

• Recommending the inclusion of a new indicator for unplanned pregnancy, drawing from the example of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP).

• Recommending a reduction in the time lag between the initial collection of datasets and their publication in PHOF datasets.

Throughout our response FSRH evidenced the many pressures faced by services providing contraception and wider SRH provision. We made clear the need for indicators to measure women’s access to SRH care throughout their life-course, beyond the age of 18.

You can download our response below.