Pharmacy Contraception Service
The Pharmacy Contraception Service is an Advanced Service which allows the supply of oral contraception (OC) from community pharmacies. The service was extended from 29th October 2025 to include oral emergency contraception (EC).
Supplies of OC and EC are authorised via a PGD, with appropriate checks, such as the measurement of the patient’s blood pressure and body mass index, being undertaken, where necessary.
People can access the service by one of the following routes:
- Identified as clinically suitable by the community pharmacist and accept the offer of the service.
- Self-refer to a community pharmacy.
- Referred* by their general practice.
- Referred* from a sexual health clinic (or equivalent).
- Referred from other NHS service providers, e.g., urgent treatment centres or NHS 111.
*Note – Digital referrals are not required. For this service, a referral includes active signposting to attend the pharmacy to receive the service.
For full details for the service, please visit the Community Pharmacy England website.
Key Documents
Service pathway for initiation of OC (PDF)
Service pathway for EC (PDF)
Service pathway for ongoing supply of OC (PDF)
Pharmacy Owner Implementation Checklist
Pharmacist & Pharmacy Technician Implementation Checklist
Who can Provide the Service?
The service can be provided by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians with the appropriate training and competence (see below).
Where BMI and blood pressure measurements are performed within the pharmacy, these can be conducted by the pharmacist or pharmacy technician as part of the consultation or by a suitably trained and competent member of the pharmacy staff in advance of the consultation.
Training
Have a look at this summary of training requirements for the Pharmacy Contraception Service below.
PCS Training Requirement Summary – Updated November 2025
Pharmacy owners must ensure that pharmacy staff providing any aspect of the service are competent to do so in line with the specific skills and knowledge in the service specification and the relevant PGDs and will need to keep documentary evidence of this.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians providing the service will be personally responsible for remaining up to date with the skills and competencies identified in the service specification and associated PGDs.
Other training available to help with delivery of the service:
- Virtual Outcomes – two modules on PCS; one for the registered pharmacy professional providing the service and one for the pharmacy team. See the VirtualOutcomes website here.
- CPE – emergency contraception & the PCS on-demand webinar
- CPE – two webinars on the PCS; getting going with the service and initiating contraception. See here.
Promoting the Service (Resources)
CPE has developed numerous public-facing promotional materials for community pharmacies to use. These are available to download here.
Public-facing promotional materials for community pharmacies are available under the resources section of the PCS webpage. A sample of these are listed below but other available resources include social media tools and, where facilities exist, digital marketing resources.
Prescription bag flyers (Oct 25)
Template patient leaflet (Oct 25)
Service Poster 1 – Pharmacy Location (Oct 25)
Service Poster 2 – Pharmacy Location (Oct 25)
Service Poster with QR Code – Pharmacy Location (Oct 25)
Service Poster 1 – Non Pharmacy Location (Oct 25)
Service Poster 2 – Non Pharmacy Location (Oct 25)
Service Poster 3 – Non Pharmacy Location (Oct 25)
Service digital general practice poster
Providing the Service (Resources)
Contraception Pre-consultation Questionnaire
Oral Contraception Initiation – Conversation Aid – Updated December 2025
Providing the Pharmacy Contraception Service – A One-Stop Summary of Resources – Updated February 2026
Spotlight on the Pharmacy Contraception Service (PCS) – Bulletin – September 2024
Emergency Contraception Resources
Emergency Contraception Pre-consultation Questionnaire
Algorithm 2: Which pill? Levonorgestrel vs Ulipristal
The following general information/resources may be helpful for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians providing emergency contraception:
- CoSRH Clinical Guidance on EC
- Confidentiality Poster
- Video for Healthcare professionals – spotting the signs of Child Sexual Exploitation
- Barnado’s Questions
- Spotting the Signs Tool – Supporting professionals to identify and respond to Child Sexual Exploitation and Child Criminal Exploitation
- Using the Spotting the Signs Tool – Guidance for Frontline Professionals
GP Resources
PCS – What GPs & Sexual Health Clinics Need to Know Poster – Updated March 2026
IT Requirements
Pharmacy owners must use an NHS-assured clinical IT system to make their clinical records, and payment claims for the service and, where the person has consented, to send messages containing the individual’s consultation outcomes to their general practice.
Details of the IT solutions available to support the service can be found on the CPE pharmacy services IT requirements webpage.
Pharmacy owners providing the service, will need to consider which system they want to use and will then need to enter into a contract with that supplier.
Claiming
All payments must be claimed monthly via the NHSBSA Manage Your Service (MYS) portal.
It is a requirement of the service specification that contractors use an NHS assured point of care system (see IT requirements above). This will pre-populate claim information in the MYS portal so that the contractor just needs to login to MYS at the start of every month to review and confirm that the information is correct before submitting the claim.
Claims for payment should be submitted within one month of, and no later than three months from the claim period for the activity provided. Claims which relate to work completed more than three months after the claim period in question, will not be paid.
Local Formularies for Combined Oral Contraception
| Place | Formulary | Comments |
|
Bradford & Craven |
See the Joint Airedale NHS Foundation Trust & Primary Care Formulary (under chapter 7 – Obstetrics, Gynaecology & UTIs) | No preferred first-line option but consider cost-effectiveness.
Align to what local practices prescribe. |
|
Calderdale |
The following are listed on the clinical system formulary:
|
No preferred first-line option but consider cost-effectiveness. Align to what local practices prescribe. |
|
Kirklees |
TBC |
Align to what local practices prescribe.
Supply the best value product which meets clinical needs of the patient. |
|
Leeds |
See the Leeds Formulary (under chapter 7 – Obstetrics, Gynaecology & UTIs) |
No preferred first-line option but consider cost-effectiveness.
Align to what local practices prescribe. |
|
Wakefield |
TBC |
Align to what local practices prescribe.
Supply the best value product which meets clinical needs of the patient. |
Local Signposting Information
Bradford
Locala offers a free and confidential service providing contraception and STI (sexually transmitted infection) care in clinics across Bradford. See here for details. Patients can be directed to the website or can call Locala Sexual Health on 030 3330 9500.
An under 18s “Queue and Wait” clinic, (no appointment needed – just turn up), is available every Wednesday, 15:30 – 18:30, at Howard House, 2nd Floor, 6 Bank Street, Bradford. BD1 1EE.
Safeguarding Links for Bradford
See the Childrens’ Safeguarding Board website.
See the Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Board website.
Calderdale
Integrated Sexual Health Service – telephone: 01422 261370
The Calderdale Sexual Health services website provides a one stop shop for contraceptive information, advice and services in the Calderdale area. See here.
Services are located across Calderdale with the main hub (Broad Street) located centrally in Halifax. Address: 51 Northgate Plaza, Broad Street, Halifax HX1 1UB.
Safeguarding Links for Calderdale
See the Calderdale Safeguarding website.
If you are worried about a vulnerable child or adult see here for information on how to report your concerns.
Kirklees
Locala offer a free and confidential service providing contraception and STI (sexually transmitted infection) care in clinics across Huddersfield and Dewsbury. See here for details. Patients can be directed to the website or can call Locala Sexual Health on 030 3330 9981.
An under 18s “Queue and Wait” clinic (no appointment needed – just turn up) is available in the following locations:
- Every Monday: 15:30 – 19:00 at Princess Royal Health Centre, Greenhead Road, Huddersfield, HD1 4EW
- Every Tuesday: 15:30 – 19:00 at Cleckheaton Health Centre, Greenside, Cleckheaton, BD19 5AP
Safeguarding Links for Kirklees
See the Kirklees Childrens Safeguarding Board website for information, including contact details for the Duty & Advice Team and who to contact if you are worried about a child in Kirklees.
For vulnerable adults in Kirklees see here.
Leeds
See here: https://leedssexualhealth.
Many GPs in Leeds also provide LARC. You can view the list below.
Safeguarding Links for Leeds
The Safeguarding Children’s Team can be contacted to discuss any concerns relating to child protection. See here.
To raise safeguarding concerns for adults see here.
Wakefield
Patients can be signposted to https://spectrumhealth.org.uk/services/sexual-health/ for details of sexual health clinics and services in Wakefield. Patients can also be directed to this website to order screening kits for chlamydia/gonorrhoea. The website includes an interactive map for patients to find their nearest clinic. Details of clinics can be found here.
The Wakefield Teenage Pregnancy Toolkitalso contains useful signposting information and covers a range of topics to help support practitioners when advising young people at risk of teenage pregnancy.
Safeguarding Links for Wakefield
The Safeguarding Children’s Team can be contacted to discuss any concerns relating to child protection. See here.
To raise safeguarding concerns for adults see here.
| For concerns about a child or adult’s safety or well-being, contact Social Care Direct free on 0345 8503 503 who will deal with your concerns and can offer advice and support on what to do. |
Notes:
- Pharmacies can also use the NHS Service Finder to look-up local sexual health service provider locations.
- There’s additional WY Safeguarding information in our Clinical Governance section here.
Last Updated: 13th March 2026
