Bracknell council is leading the hunt for a provider to run specialist sexual health services such as identifying diseases and providing contraception.
Bracknell Forest Council is in charge of finding a provider for specialist sexual health and reproductive services for a five-year period.
Local authorities have a series of responsibilities relating to sexual health services, which include sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, chlamydia screening, HIV testing and outreach, including promoting good sexual health in schools, colleges and pharmacies.
These services are typically done on the council’s behalf by a provider in Bracknell Forest Council who is in charge of selecting.
The provider runs these services not only for Bracknell Forest but also for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Slough.
These details were presented at a meeting of Bracknell Forest Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board on Tuesday, February 21.
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Revealing statistics were provided in a presentation by Bex Williams, consultant in public health at the Berkshire East health hub.
They showed that 30 women or girls under 25 years old had repeated abortions in Bracknell Forest in 2021.
Additionally, 333 abortions were conducted within 10 weeks of a child being conceived that year.
Although these abortion statistics were displayed, responsibility for abortions is primarily provided by clinical commissioning groups.
In Bracknell, there are two pharmacies that provide an emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) service, which can be bought over the counter in a pharmacy, but it is understood the service is free for 15 to 24-year-olds.
The age of sexual consent in the UK is 16.
Bex Williams explained the council’s contractor’s responsibility comes with giving advice and support regarding emergency contraception rather than providing the methods to the patient.
Councils are also in charge of finding providers for Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), which is typically implemented using two methods: a birth control implant that is inserted under the arm which releases hormones that prevent pregnancy, or an intrauterine device (IUD), which suppresses the growth of a child within a female uterus.
Both of these LARCs will continue to end pregnancies until they are removed.
Bex Williams mentioned a website called Safe Sex Berkshire during her presentation, which provides testing for STIs and HIV, emergency contraception through a ‘morning after pill’ and advice for LBGTQ+ people and victims of sexual assault.
The contract for specialist sexual and reproductive health services is currently held by the Berkshire Health NHS Foundation Trust.
The existing contract comes to an end in June 2024, with the new contract running for five years with a review of the provision during the third year.
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