By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2025-03-29 22:45:15 | Updated at 2025-04-03 23:10:54
5 days ago
Wes Streeting has announced plans to provide the morning after pill free of charge at pharmacies on the NHS in a major win for women's health.
The move will end the current postcode lottery that sees women charged up to £30 for emergency contraception.
The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to address health inequality across England.
Currently, access to emergency contraception varies dramatically depending on where women live.
The move from Wes Streeting will end the current postcode lottery that sees women charged up to £30 for emergency contraception
PA
The plans will free up valuable appointment slots across the country
PA
Full details of the agreement are expected to be announced by the Government on Monday although it has been reported the initiative is due to be introduced later this year.
The scheme has been tipped to relieve pressure on GP services as women will no longer need to book GP appointments to receive the emergency contraception.
This in turn will free up valuable appointment slots across the country and help Labour honour an election pledge to cut NHS waiting times.
The plans come as the Health Secretary warned "hundreds" more NHS health quangos could soon be axed after the Prime Minister announced the end of the "world's biggest quango" last week.
Streeting warned there was "far more change to come" and that the abolition of NHS England was simply the start, insisting that there was "no time to waste".
Streeting wrote in The Sunday Telegraph: "The abolition of NHS England – the world's largest quango – is the beginning, not the end.
"Patients and staff alike can see the inefficiency and waste in the health service.
"My team and I are going through budgets line by line, with a relentless focus on slashing bloated bureaucracy."
