Memoirs of a service reduction survivor

There was a strange irony surrounding the gestation time of the reduction in the family planning service. Nine months from conception to birth or, perhaps less prosaically, from proposal to implementation. Perhaps the unconscious at work in large organisations deserve more respect.

Locally, financial restraints have resulted in a more limited service which in essence restricts service provision to under 21 year olds. Patients above this age will have access to family planning clinics only via formal referral from general practitioners or for postcoital contraception. The results of this decision are painful for both staff and patients.

“I can't talk to my GP about family planning problems. She is so busy and I feel guilty discussing things when …