Services Database Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) in Community Pharmacy

This service is for the provision of free Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) to females aged between 13 to 18 years in the community pharmacy setting.  It is independent of but should be offered where appropriate, in conjunction with a pharmacy chlamydia screening service.

The aims of this service are to:

• improve access to emergency contraception, safer sex and sexual health advice;
• reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in the client group by use of EHC;
• refer all clients accessing this service into mainstream contraceptive services for ongoing contraceptive needs;
• increase the knowledge of risks associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs);
• refer clients at risk of STIs to an appropriate service; and
• increase knowledge, especially among young people, of the availability of EHC from the community pharmacy setting.

The pharmacist must:

• Complete all specified online training and other specified requirements in order to achieve provisional accreditation. This will enable pharmacists to start to deliver the service until they attend the next training session and become fully accredited.
• Having achieved provisional accreditation, pharmacists must attend a face to face training session, arranged by Public Health at Buckinghamshire County Council, to equip pharmacists with the skills required to deliver the EHC service in a user-friendly, non-judgmental and confidential way to females aged 13 to 18 years and using client centred communication skills. The training will also go through all the latest safeguarding issues, contraceptive and sexual health services and supplying EHC under the patient group direction (PGD).
• Attend update sessions as required by the Public Health team.If accredited elsewhere, submit evidence of the training they have undertaken to Public Health who may validate accreditation for the Bucks service. The pharmacist will be expected to attend the next local training session following this accreditation.
• Demonstrate a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) portfolio which supports this service.
• Newly accredited pharmacists and accredited locums must sign the statement at any branch before they start to provide the service at that branch. Updated statements must be submitted to Buckinghamshire County Council with claims at month end.
• Any changes which affect the provision of this service must be notified for example, accredited staff leaving the pharmacy.

Essential Centre for Pharmacy Professional Education (CPPE) training which must be undertaken:

CPPE Certificates for these two courses must be provided to Public Health prior to accreditation.

• CPPE Emergency Contraception e-learning programme
• CPPE Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults e-learning programme

CPPE training which may support this service:

It is strongly recommended that pharmacists complete these additional courses.

• CPPE Contraception - open learning
• Sexual health in pharmacies
• Dealing with difficult discussions - open learning