• family planning service provision

The Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) of the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) was held at the Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Warwick, UK on 18–19 April 2013. It attracted delegates from all sectors of sexual and reproductive health care (SRH) in the UK.

2013 is the landmark 20th anniversary of the FSRH. The Faculty has evolved and developed as a professional body. This was evident in the presentations and contributions to the ASM. There were no less than 44 displayed posters and six oral presentations by specialty trainees and specialists in SRH.

Oral prize winner Dr Lucy Michie delivered a presentation on ‘The success of the pilot study on the importance of quick start after emergency contraception (EC) through pharmacy’. Atisha Pandya, a 4th year medical student, presented the results of ‘The ultrasound finding of lost intrauterine devices (IUDs) in a 4-year period’. These presentations reflect the fact that our field is attracting medical students and junior doctors interested in research and service evaluation in SRH.

Dr Annabel Forsythe in her trainee award-winning poster showed how we should adopt a Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) initiative in contraceptive care, using local anaesthetic spray instead of 1% lidocaine injection for the insertion of Nexplanon^®.

Mr Gareth Williams, a curator of early mediaeval coinage, gave an after-dinner speech that was a great hit with the delegates.

A joint session with the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology on the second day was informative and interactive. This was followed by ‘Sexual health and stigma’. Dr Michael Brady, genitourinary medicine consultant, gave a talk on ‘Pre-exposure prophylaxis’, which was much appreciated by the delegates. ‘Policing abortion care’ was an innovative presentation given by Dr Sam Rowlands, which provided insights into the current status of this sensitive issue and the significant changes and developments that are taking place.

The highlight of the ASM was a transatlantic debate on prescribing oral contraception. Dr Alisa Gebbie chaired the session; the UK side was represented by Dr Ali Kubba and the USA by Professor Lee Shulman. The debate covered issues ranging from discrepancy in contraceptive provision; health policy regarding contraception; research and training issues; the transatlantic medical eligibility criteria difference in combined contraceptives relating to body mass index; why primary research in contraception in the UK is lagging behind the USA; why there is so much variation in the provision of contraception in the USA; over-the-counter prescription of EC and the cost of EC in the USA; and the lower usage of long-acting reversible contraceptives, especially intrauterine techniques, in the USA. This debate was enjoyable and thought-provoking, and gave the audience an awareness of the importance of informed choice for women for the purposes of fertility control. A recording of the lively debate is available as a podcast on the Journal website.

The 2013 ASM was extremely successful and we look forward to the next meeting in Belfast on 3–4 April 2014.