How much has been spent on (a) prescribed and (b) non-prescribed contraceptives in each year since 2018-19, broken down by (i) type of cont…

The Prescribing Information System (PIS) holds information on medicines and devices dispensed in the community, and the Hospital Medicines Utilisation Database (HMUD) holds information on medication provided in secondary care settings. Contraceptives are accessed and supplied by a variety of routes and the extent to which these supplies are captured within PIS and HMUD varies by type of contraception. For example, oral contraceptives are largely prescribed by General Practice and dispensed by Community Pharmacies and so are well recorded within PIS, whereas Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC) are more commonly provided through secondary care managed services such as Sexual Health Clinics and so are better represented within HMUD.
Over-the-counter non-prescribed contraception will not be included in either dataset; Public Health Scotland holds no data on this.
Costs are provided in table 1 below. However, a meaningful measure of the number of contraceptives issued across all drug groups is not possible. The length of cover provided by one product unit of contraception can vary from one day (e.g., one tablet) to up to ten years (e.g., one intrauterine device or IUD). Whilst measures of quantity are available within PIS and HMUD, these are for indicative purposes only and cannot be practically used to compare the amounts of different types of contraception distributed.
Table 1: Cost of contraceptives issued in PIS and HMUD from 2018/19 to 2022/23, by BNF paragraph
Year
BNF paragraph
Total cost
2018-19
7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives
£2,481,077.97
7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems
£76,961.55
7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives
£1,655,742.83
7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives
£3,801,664.99
7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device
£2,911,778.68
7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives
£3,827.63
7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception
£729,734.84
21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices
£40,162.22
2019-20
7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives
£2,447,912.45
7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems
£81,772.99
7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives
£1,751,465.69
7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives
£3,739,842.34
7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device
£2,980,340.96
7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives
£2,799.65
7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception
£887,595.65
21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices
£40,793.78
2020-21
7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives
£2,062,640.35
7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems
£71,294.88
7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives
£1,814,380.10
7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives
£2,596,546.10
7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device
£1,736,105.38
7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives
£1,974.72
7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception
£689,367.85
21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices
£19,629.36
2021-22
7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives
£2,054,375.79
7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems
£69,083.39
7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives
£1,805,823.06
7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives
£3,365,352.67
7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device
£2,856,637.26
7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives
£2,293.69
7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception
£963,038.59
21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices
£33,840.25
2022-23
7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives
£2,013,008.31
7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems
£66,692.32
7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives
£1,901,855.47
7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives
£3,469,198.81
7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device
£3,082,500.15
7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives
£2,231.46
7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception
£1,056,156.66
21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices
£30,427.78
Source: Public Health Scotland, PIS, HMUD
Reference: IR2023-00531
Notes:
For PIS:
1. Includes items prescribed and/or dispensed in Scotland
2. Excludes items prescribed and/or dispensed in England
3. Includes all prescri