The NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service (PCS):
- offers people greater choice on accessing contraception services
- helps address health inequalities by providing wider healthcare access for high-risk communities and vulnerable patients in their communities and signposting service users to local sexual health services
- creates extra capacity in primary care and sexual health clinics (or equivalent) to support meeting the demand for more complex assessments
The service objectives are to:
- provide a model for community pharmacy teams to initiate provision of oral contraception (OC), continue the provision of OC supplies and supply oral emergency contraception (OEC)
- establish an integrated pathway between existing services and community pharmacies that provide people with greater choice and access when considering starting or continuing their current form of OC
OC and OEC supplies will be undertaken by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians using PGDs to support the review and supply process
The service specification and associated patient group directions (PGDs) for the extended PCS can be found at NHS England's NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service webpage.
PCS registration
Pharmacy contractors can register to provide the PCS Service via our Manage Your Service (MYS) system.
To register for the service, pharmacy contractors must:
- meet all specification terms including competence requirements of staff (which may involve completion of training)
- use an approved IT system for service delivery
- complete their MYS registration
PCS claiming
Pharmacy contractors who have registered for the service can submit a reimbursement claim on MYS for products supplied and consultations provided. Reimbursements will take place in the prescription month of when the claims were declared for payment on MYS.
For example, claims declared in October 2025 will be reimbursed alongside the October 2025 prescription month.