Sexual health services are at “breaking point” after £1bn in cuts since 2015

Growing demand for sexual health consultations coupled with cuts in funding has left services in England at “breaking point,” the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned.1

Figures from the association’s report show that the total number of sexual health consultations in 2021 stood at 4 002 827—up by 16% from 2020 and by 36% since 2013. At the same time cuts in funding have led to a 17% reduction in spending on sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, contraception, and treatment over the past seven years.

Councils are calling on the chancellor to use the government’s upcoming autumn statement to reverse these spending cuts and provide long term funding increases to manage the rise in demand.

Since 2013, local authorities in England have had responsibility for commissioning most sexual and reproductive health services through the public health grant. But the LGA said that the grant had been cut by £1bn (€1.14bn; $1.19bn) since 2015 and that councils now faced a perfect storm, as demand for services continued to rise while the price for providing them was escalating, hampering efforts to reduce levels of STIs and teenage pregnancies.

The LGA said that demand for services meant that health inequality was widening. David Fothergill, chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said, “The government must ensure sexual and reproductive health funding is increased to levels which do not jeopardise people’s sexual and reproductive health. Inadequate prevention and early intervention increase overall costs to the health service.”

Janet Barter, president of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, said, “This report should not be a surprise for the government. We have been warning about inadequate funding for sexual health services for the past six years.

“It is increasingly difficult for people to access these services, and it’s harder for women to access contraception. Although we can’t say for sure, this must link to the recent rise in abortions and the rise in proportion of pregnancies that are either unplanned or ambivalent. None of this makes sense, as investing in these services saves the NHS money.”

The British Association of Sexual Health and HIV said that its services were facing “unprecedented levels of demand” because of covid-19 and monkeypox, placing huge additional strains on the workforce. It said in a statement, “It is essential that the government recognises the importance of placing sexual health on a sustainable footing, and that doing so must incorporate delivering upon the long awaited national strategy, backed up by new funding and clear, robust metrics to guide commissioning priorities.”