The free contraception scheme, currently open to women aged 17 -26 who are ordinarily resident in Ireland, was launched on 14th September, 2022, and expanded to include 26 year-olds on January 1st, 2023. The scheme is due to be further expanded to women aged 30 and under by September 1st, 2023.
For eligible women, the free contraception scheme provides for the full cost of consultations, prescriptions, fittings, removals and check-ups related to the wide range of contraception also available to GMS card holders on the Re-Imbursement List.
Funding has been provided, through the HSE, to the ICGP under the scheme to provide additional training and education to GPs regarding the fitting, removal and management of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs).
In September 2022, ICGP received €78,110 for the development of LARC training and education over a two-year period. In 2023, ICGP will receive €211,263 for completion of Year 1 development and delivery of the training programme and to commence Year 2.
ICGP advise that they have been delivering and continue to develop a high quality LARC training scheme that is accessible to GPs and GP trainees alike. Engagement with stakeholders has been critical to ensure success. ICGP has developed a checklist to support LARC tutors and is adapting the programme to incorporate Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) tools to determine if GPs meet the requirements for certification at the end of their training and can demonstrate that they have achieved standards which have also been set, ensuring standardisation.
LARC training is complex and requires various levels of education from understanding the evidence base to competency in inserting LARC. As part of the overall plan, ICGP has undertaken research through the Research Hub for General Practice to examine areas where there is a lack of LARC inserters. The funding allocated to ICGP includes grants for training in these areas of greatest need. This work is is ongoing. It is anticipated that there will be an increase in the number of LARC inserters as a result of the funding by 2024. ICGP anticipates that 55 GPs located in geographic locations with the greatest lack of LARC Inserters will be identified and trained each year.
ICGP is also working to increase the availability of LARC tutors by providing an online on demand course for training, while also developing an easily accessible directory of LARC tutors, with appropriate permissions in place as a critical element of this process.
Two modules on contraception theory are provided as part of the course, these can be accessed throughout the year and can be taken at a GP’s own pace. Each GP training scheme now also runs the contraception theory course. A contraception theory resource pack is disseminated to each GP training scheme to support in person training, which is delivered to all GP trainees. This means that each GP Trainee is provided with comprehensive education on contraception, regardless of a decision to complete the certificate course.
In terms of course completions to date, 37 LARC Certificates were issued in 2022 and 26 certificates have been issued in 2023 so far.
In addition to education and training, the ICGP has also developed Patient Information Leaflets, consent forms and protocols for insertion, to standardise practice. The ICGP have also hosted a number of webinars and conferences, either focussed on contraception, with 1147 GPs and Practice Nurses attending a webinar in October 2022. The ICGP delivers a separate blended, modular course in Community Gynaecology, of which the first module is on Contraception.
