FSRH meets with Government leaders to discuss the prioritisation of sexual and reproductive healthcare services

The COVID-19 pandemic has detrimentally impacted access to sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) services, but has also created opportunities for improving provision alongside the restructure of the public health system and reform of the NHS. FSRH has met with Ministers and senior Government officials to discuss these issues and to propose strategies for SRH provision going forward.

In January, the Advisory Group on Contraception (AGC) met with Jo Churchill MP, Minister for Prevention, Public Health, and Primary Care. AGC members, including FSRH, Brook, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), and MSI Reproductive Choices, outlined the impact of funding cuts to SRH services in recent years. The Minister agreed on the importance of holistic women’s health and is working together with FSRH to improve access to contraception going forward.

In December 2020, FSRH and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on SRH met with Caroline Nokes MP, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SRH provision.

FSRH also met with Edward Middleton, Senior Health Policy Advisor at the Office of the Prime Minister, to discuss the fragmented commissioning of SRH services. FSRH President Asha Kasliwal proposed that the restructure of the public health system provides an opportunity to rectify this fragmentation and ensure holistic SRH provision going forward.

FSRH will continue to engage with Ministers, MPs, and senior healthcare leaders to convey the importance of holistic SRH services, and to work together to ensure that healthcare reforms prioritise these services going forward.