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Sexual health / contraception

Journalist: Connie Dimsdale, The i newspaper

ended 09. June 2023

Hi, I'm doing a story about barriers to accessing the coil and I'm looking to speak with a doctor specialising in contraception/sexual health.

Keen to discuss why wait lists are so long for routine coil fitting appointments in some places. FOI data shows some women in parts of Devon and Northern Ireland are waiting over a year for coil appointments.

It's for a piece being published today so can do questions over email if that's easier.

Here they are: 
- Why are waiting lists for routine coil appointments so long in some places? 
- What other barriers are there to women getting the coil? 
- How can wait times be decreased? 
- What other options do women have?

Thanks!

1 responses from the Newspage community

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Dr Nikki Ramskill
Sadly it’s a mixture of lack of time, expertise and resources. Sexual health services are understaffed and underfunded. Many end up closing because of this. GPs can be trained to fit coils, but if they are busy, finding time to do this is hard. I am a GP currently waiting to start coil training, and the bureaucracy around this and waiting lists for training due to lack of trainers also compounds the issue. Lack of adequate pain relief is also a problem in my opinion. Many women hear horror stories of painful insertions (which I can attest to having had a painful fit myself). Not every fitter uses pain relief and this definitely puts women off having one. We need a big push to train up more GPs, nurses and midwives. We also need better staffed sexual health services. In the meantime, a woman may have no choice but to go private or try to seek help out of area.